The Ghost and the team
by dajasa
Summary: Superboy was not the first clone Cadmus made, but what if he wasn't even the second, there was something else in Cadmus and now it is out what will happen, M rating is mostly cautionary but may come into play
1. Chapter 1

**A/N so, I understand that my original chapter for Ghost was terrible, but I've improved a lot recently, and I've got the whole series as a guide, Hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**The Series will be episodic, but with a few behind the scenes chapters and a bit more detail**

_**Washington D.C**_

_**July 5 00:01 EDT**_

As DR. Desmond turned looking in the direction the brats had run, the cloning chambers burnt and half collapsed behind him, he let out a low growl

"Activate every Genomorph in Cadmus," He Seemed to hesitate, "and Get the Ghost on their tail, Tell him to stay out of sight, we've lost Superboy, if they know about Ghost we're all doomed." He gave the G-Gnome on his shoulder a glare, and it nodded letting out a low rumble, before its horns illuminated.

All around Cadmus Genomorph breeding pods opened, G-elves sprawled across the floor spreading their limbs around, G-trolls thumping and plodding towards the group of young heroes. However it was down what Robin decided was creepy corridor number one, at the end through a bulkhead door that we focus, on a second clone breeding pod, where the Ghost stood, three G-gnomes around him, he was already in combat gear, a skin tight white suit worn underneath a thick Kevlar vest and Kevlar padded skirts, a hood covered his head, all of the armour a dark deep-sea blue colour, on his back were two katana swords, each three feet long, and strapped around his thighs, underneath the armour skirts where two holsters each containing a heavy duty pistol.

The pod slid open and 'Ghost' dropped to the floor landing in a crouch.

· _Orders received: eliminate targets: Aqualad, Kid Flash, Robin_

· _Query: Why?_

· _Response: They know too much_

· _Query: How should we eliminate?_

· _Status: Aqualad: susceptible to heat, burning, explosions. Use pistols and surrounding area to advantage, incendiary grenades also handy_

· _Status: Robin: Mortal, acrobatic. Swords should be sufficient_

· _Note: use of cloaking necessary for approach,_

· _Statement D-01: fuck yes that guy's a ninja in his own right_

· _Statement A-01: agreed approach carefully_

· _Status: Kid Flash: Speedster, skilled in hand to hand. Use caltrops to slow down, finish off with swords_

· _Query: Necessary?_

· _Response: Yes_

· _Query: Why?_

· _Response: they know too much, this is necessary._

· _Decision: Status Acknowledged, response complete, single combat best option._

· _Error: Anomaly, Superboy is with them._

· _Query: And?_

· _Error: no information available_

· _Status Superboy, Murphy's Law, Assume the worst, and prepare._

· _Statement D-01: Fuck you Desmond_

· _Statement A-01: Quiet, Ghost proceed with action_

The Ghost's Head tilted to the side, psych warfare truly was shit.

He rose to his feet, skirts cascading around him and walked towards the door, as he did so the device on the left side of his belt began to glow, this particular device was shaped like an enlarged poker chip, however mistaken would be the man who assumed that was what it was, in fact this device was an extremely expensive, but robust molecular displacement field generator, it would spread a field across any living matter it touched, and the field would displace any particle it came into contact with. In the event that this description was not enough proof, Ghost strode through the door, the heavy steel rippling slightly, the man pushing through it, almost with no effort.

Striding down the corridor he watched as the four disappeared up the elevator shaft, _this, will not be too hard, _a G-elf sprinted past him and leapt across the elevator shaft, and attempted to scramble up. It fell, of course and let out a screech. Ghost growled and stood in the doorway, watching the elevator pass and then sprang onto the cable and began to climb.

It was, he thought a blatant clue as to where the group had left the elevator, smashing both doors off often had that effect. He leapt through the door and immediately saw the cape of robin retreating around the corner, immediately the device on the right of his belt began to glow and he flickered out of view, the man moved down the corridor, reaching for the katana on his back.

Robin felt a cool breeze across his shoulders, he spun the hairs on the back of his neck raising just for a moment he could have sworn he saw a blurred and rippling silhouette, as if someone was following him

"Rob?" Wally asked "is there something up?" Robin faced his long-time friend, aware of the Genomorph following the group, but he still looked around

"Nothing KF, nothing"

"Right!" Superboy yelled, not bothering to see if everyone else was following simply turning down the corridor, they came to a dead end and stopped

"Great directions Supey, are you trying to get us re-podded!" Confusion crossed superboy's face and he opened his mouth

"I, I don't understand it should be here" and then robin looked at the wall properly and smiled

"KF, what are you yelling about this is-" Then the arm closed around his throat and he was taken off his feet with a small yelp, Kid Flash spun around and charged at whoever had taken his feet out from underneath him, only for the figure to throw a handful of caltrops on the ground, and these were not the normal baubles that he would slip on these were the historical spiked balls, that dug into Wally's feet, he let out a yelp and collapsed, Kaldur charged only for a bullet to collide with his shoulder, and Superboy simply stared.

"What do you want" Kaldur growled through gritted teeth, his eyes and jaw twitching "you do not need to stop us, let us go and we will leave you alone" Robin tilted his head back and looked at the blank white mask the figure wore, and then the man's head shook. Robin only then noted that the man was holding a gun to his head.

There was an awkward silence as the man held the pistol to his head, silent and stoic ensuring he held robin low enough that he could not get to his feet, Wally clutching the sole of his foot, Kaldur pressing down on the wound in his shoulder, superboy seemed to have frozen up his fists clenched, eyes wide with small pupils. Then the pressure was gone from his throat and the white masked figure was gone.

"What the hell!" Wally yelled "Who was that!" he punched the wall

"I do not know, my friend but I fear this may not be the last we see of him" Kaldur said standing up pressing down on his shoulder, Superboy suddenly slumped as if released from a spell.

"Come on," Robin said, letting out a huff, rubbing his sore throat, he reached up and grabbed the vent cover peeling it off "we've got to get out of here"...

_**Mount Justice**_

_**July 8, 08:04 EDT**_

"this cave was the original secret sanctuary for the justice league, we're calling it into service once again, since you four are determined to stay together and fight the good fight" Batman turned and glared at the four "Red Tornado has volunteered to live here and be your 'den mother', Black Canary will supervise your training, I will deploy you on missions"

"Real missions?" Robin said with a pointed look, Batman gave him an almost bat-glare

"Yes, but covert"

"The league will still handle the obvious stuff," Flash said, gesturing at the lightning-bolt insignia on his chest "theres a reason we have these targets on our chests"

"But Cadmus Proves that the villains are getting smarter, Batman needs a team that can operate on the sly"

"You five will be that team" Batman said, Robin grinned

"Cool," his grin disappeared a look of confusion on his face "Wait five of us?" all five turned seeing where Batman was looking

"This," he said "is Miss Martian, the Martian Man hunter's niece" Wally smiled nudging Robin in the ribs

"Likin' this gig more every minute" as Kaldur, Wally and Superboy wandered over, Robin turned to face Batman

"You've got something to tell me" Batman said, it was not a question, it was a statement, not a question

"when we were in Cadmus," Robin began "there was something down there, even with Super boy's hearing and everything you taught me, he managed to sneak up on us, he was ready for us, I saw incendiary grenades, on his belt and he had caltrops, he was geared up to take us down"

"You're scared that that means he's equipped to deal with the full league"

"Yep" Robin said, nervousness building in his gut, Batman laid a hand on his shoulder, and gave him the barest of comforting smiles

"We'll look into it, for now get to know your new teammate"

**A/N Yep I really do prefer this sort of backstory for Ghost plus as a warning, we will be skipping to Episode 5, Schooled, as that is when Ghost will actually show up in full**


	2. Chapter 2

A/N First off, every word in this chapter was written by me, I took a painstakingly long time watching and re-watching schooled, all so I could get an accurate display of the events, no need to thank me. Second, when I've done comm links I've put the persons initials in brackets so it's easier to keep track of (Artemis will be Ar) Third, yes I changed the organisation, it seemed more logical and I've also introduced Batgirl, she is on probation as much with the team as with the story, I wanted to add a sixth person for the mission, but didn't want to make it a major character yet, so Batgirl will get cameos but not often, at least not for a while.

Chapter 2: Schooled

**BELLE REVE PRISON**

**AUGUST 3, 07:38 EDT**

_Status: Reached target location_

_Orders received: Enter cell and execute Doctor Desmond_

_Statement D-01: Gladly_

_Status: Proceed, quick kill and quick escape_

_Query: Method of execution?_

_Response: Pistol_

_Query: Why?_

_Response: This is not to look like an accident._

_Status: Executing orders_

Doctor Desmond looked up from the floor of his dingy cell as he heard the gentle hum of the Ghost's cloaking system. There was a moment where he heard only the cloaking system before the hum stopped and the white suited figure appeared in his cell.

"Ghost, are you here to kill me?" The doctor asked quietly his voice, usually full of passion for his work, was disheartened. The ghost stood idle, his entire frame lax, simply staring at the doctor.

"Well, go ahead and do it!" Desmond spat, leaning forward and glaring at him.

Ghost slowly reached down towards his thigh, he closed his finger around a pistol, sitting comfortably in its holster. The white suited gloves closed around the pistol's handle. Desmond's eyes were locked on the pistol as Ghost drew it, pointed it directly at the Doctor's head and stopped. Desmond stared as there were yet more moments of silence.

And then three gunshots, each one punctuated in the silence of the cell.

**MOUNT JUSTICE**

**AUGUST 3, 13:06 EDT**

There was a loud buzz as, for the two hundredth time that day, the holographic hockey board declared that Wally had beaten Kaldur. This came as no surprise to either player nor was it surprising to M'gann, their avid spectator.

Robin sat in the corner of the room, an act which in itself was recognised as a feat capable of only a member of the bat family, considering the room was round. The youngest team member was focused completely on his gauntlet's holographic display in which he was studying the footage from Cadmus, a habit he had developed over time since the events of the fourth of July that year. Yes, Batman had said the league would handle it, but the league where always occupied and Robin was fascinated by the 'Ghost' he had encountered.

"_Superboy, B04" _The Computer called out. In a flash of Zeta light the Kryptonian clone appeared. His face was stony, clearly angry, or at least clearly to the three more experienced members, M'gann smiled at him.

"Hey Superboy, how was Metropolis?" The green Martian asked. Superboy ignored her, something which everyone else found he did annoyingly often, and ploughed through the holographic table. Robin looked up and frowned, thinking back to the encounter with the 'Ghost', more specifically how Superboy had frozen up.

The little bird's thoughts were interrupted by a polite cough from the entrance. The entire team looked up and saw Black Canary and the Martian Manhunter walking towards them.

"Ready for training everyone?" Black canary asked before being interrupted by a cry from M'gann

"Uncle J'onn!" The Martian squealed before hugging her uncle tightly.

"M'gann, I was assisting Black Canary with a fight, I thought I would drop in and see how you were adjusting" The taller Martian said.

"I'm doing fine, a few cuts and bruises but nothing more."

"Alright," Black Canary cut in, "Class is in-" The leaguer was cut off as a large holographic screen blinked into life, revealing Batman's face.

"Batman," Kaldur said respectfully, "Do you have a mission for us?"

"Yes, But I also have some news." The Bat spoke leading both Robin and Superboy to approach.

"First the news, Doctor Desmond is dead." He said in his usual flat tone.

"What!" Robin yelled "How!"

"He was murdered this morning, his body was found by a guard on patrol, he had been shot three times in the head. Amanda Waller's security team have looked at the surveillance footage but no one entered or exited the cell in or around the time he died." Batman said and Robin could hear the slight frown in his voice.

"It was the Ghost wasn't it?" Kaldur asked, "He could walk through walls and turn invisible, he's the only person in the league database who has both of those traits."

"Yes," J'onn said "Excepting me and M'gann."

"Neither of you are under suspicion," Batman clarified "As far as testing has gone, neither of you can 'phase' with other objects, Desmond was shot, neither of you could have carried a pistol into the cell with you."

"No matter," Black Canary said, "This is league business, _isn't it?_" The woman continued, complete with a glare at both J'onn and Batman "They need to focus on _their_ mission don't they"

"Of course," Batman began and again Robin could hear the apology, although none of the other team members could, "Alongside the death of Dr. Desmond, Green arrow and Black Canary encountered a new threat." The Man pressed a button off screen and an image flashed up in the corner showing an Android with green lower parts and orange on the top of his head, almost like hair.

"This android was able to copy each hero's powers, replicating them almost exactly. Green arrow called in reinforcements, which was almost disastrous. In the end it took eight leaguers almost five hours to dismantle the robot."

"Whoa" Wally breathed.

"The Team of leaguers included: Green Arrow, Black Canary, Captain Atom, Superman, Flash, Red tornado, myself and Martian Manhunter. Your mission-"

"Should you choose to accept it" Wally said, grinning.

"-is to transport the android's parts to two separate star labs, one in Boston, one in New York, we believe that the Android's creator, suspected to be Doctor Ivo-"

"Ivo? But he's dead!" Kaldur said, sounding slightly panicked.

"Suspected dead and we're not sure the android is Ivo's creation it is just suspicion. Either way we believe its creator will try to reassemble it, so we are sending out the two main trucks as well as four decoys, there will be one member per truck, you need to defend the trucks."

"Batman, six? There are only five of us." Kaldur cut in.

"At the moment yes, however you will be joined by Batgirl, who is on, shall we say a probationary period with the team. Superboy, Robin and Batgirl will survey the trucks heading to New York, Miss Martin, Kid flash and Aqualad will survey the Boston trucks. Understood?" The question was met with a chorus of affirmations.

**LITCHFIELD COUNTY**

**AUGUST 3, 20:08 EDT**

As the last parts of the android were loaded onto trucks, the team were being introduced to their new probationary member.

"So this is the team?" Batgirl asked, standing in a black and purple jacket, black trousers and purple trainers. Like Robin she wore a mask and over the mask she wore her black motorcycle helmet.

"Yep," Robin said, "Superboy, Miss Martian, Kid Flash, Aqualad and me" The boy continued before his smile faded.

"So," Wally said, looking between his five companions "Who goes with the decoys, who goes with the real trucks?"

"Superboy and Kaldur should do it." M'gann said.

"No," Robin said matter-of-factly.

"What, Why? They're our most powerful members"

"Exactly, send M'gann and Bar-Batgirl with the real trucks, Kaldur and Superboy are too obvious same with me and KF." M'gann looked plain terrified at the idea but Batgirl grinned.

"Brilliant, first mission and you're already trusting me with the goal? Let's go!" The Girl cheered before running over to her bike.

"Let's go" Robin said, marginally less enthusiastic, following.

The rest of the team followed as well and as Batman gave the go ahead to the Star labs trucks the team following behind them as they left the clearing. The three New York trucks sped past an intersection on the road to New York.

And the Ghost sat on his sleek, black motorcycle.

_Orders received: Survey and assist the recovery of Amazo Android_

_Note: Proceed with caution, Mission is surveillance engage only if absolutely necessary_

_Statement A-01: Suggest utilizing the Wraith's cloaking compatibility to hide approach_

_Status: Acknowledged, Cloaking active in three seconds._

The biker watched, for a few seconds, before both rider and bike flickered into invisibility.

The yellow, blue and white bikes of the Boston team sped along behind their assigned trucks, Aqualad in front, Wally behind and M'gann in the middle. On either side of the road were open corn fields, with no road for miles around. The perfect place for an ambush.

"I'm worried about Superboy, when he came in today he was really, really angry. I could feel it from a few feet away" The Martian admitted, starting the conversation in a depressing tone.

"Don't worry babe, just give him space, me, well stick as close as you want to me" Wally said, shifting into a slightly sultry tone.

"Wally!" Aqualad said in a calm but warning tone, "Focus."

"Fine, fine" Wally sighed.

"Besides, Superboy just needs some time to calm down, a quiet mission will be good for him" Aqualad continued, shifting his focus to M'gann.

"Kaldur, god!" Wally yelled exasperatedly "We might as well get ready to fight right now!" there was a loud bang and a swarm of robotic simians exploded from the fields to their right.

"Oh, me and my big mouth!" Wally yelled.

"Aqualad to New York team, we are under attack."

(R) "_Course,_" Robin muttered "_They wouldn't just attack one of us would they?_"

Robin looked at the monkey robots which infested the truck, clawing at the walls and windscreen. Superboy pulled in next to him and growled.

"I hate monkeys!" The six week old grunted, drawing another laugh from Robin.

"Robot monkeys, totally Ivo's tweak style!" He yelled. Looking to his left he saw Batgirl pull in next to him.

"Yep, definitely Ivo." Robin nodded and reached down to his console, pressing a button which switched his bike into battle mode. The rear half of the bike slid out of the back and its wheel split in half spreading out to each slide and spinning like a propeller lifting it off the ground. The bike began to fire lasers at the robot monkeys.

"Hey, guys switch your rides to battle mode!" The young hero called. Batgirl looked down at her console and switched into battle mode. Superboy didn't.

"No point!" The Kryptonian clone called, jumping off his bike and onto the truck. Robin tried to swerve out of the bikes path, he honestly did, but it came at him too fast and he was forced to grapple onto the back of the truck. As he hit the truck, leading with one foot, he kicked one of the monkeys off the truck. Above him Superboy pulled off his helmet and smacked two of the monkeys down, the cyber-simians disappearing into the fields. As the boy smacked down the second monkey a third lunged at him. The Kryptonian clone grabbed its arms and ripped it in half. Any victorious sense he had was lost when four Monkeys dogpiled him.

Batgirl grappled the side of the truck and was dragged onto the front. The girl started to work at clearing the drivers view, kicking and punching monkeys as hard as she could.

Robin kicked a second and third monkey of the back, but it seemed futile as more monkeys approached from behind, only some of them being shot down by his and Batgirl's bikes. The bikes were taken down, rather suddenly by a swarm of monkeys which blasted the rotors and dragged them out of the air. Superboy himself was taken out with a laser blast to the eyes and the combined effort of four monkeys.

Robin worked his way up through the swarm onto the roof of the truck and began beating monkeys down with his Eskrima sticks. His short hurricane like assault was interrupted when he was thrown off the truck by the impact of Superboy dropping onto it. This put him into the perfect position to see two monkeys blasting at the tyres.

"Batgirl! Get the driver out! Both of you get off the truck!" He yelled and was glad to see that Batgirl at least dragged the driver out of the truck as it flipped, although Superboy ignored him completely. This resulted in the truck flipping on top of him. Robin pushed himself to his feet but saw the back of the truck explode and the Monkeys carry the red case full of Amazo parts from the truck. The group flew away with it and Robin groaned. Superboy forced the truck off himself and Robin was glad to see his partner was okay, at least until he saw the anger on Super boy's face and wished that the clone was unconscious, because then he wouldn't-

"Argh!" The Clone roared, leaping after the parts.

-then he wouldn't do that. The clone disappeared after the parts and Robin sighed before grinning when he heard Batgirl call.

"Hey, Robin, is he always like that?" Robin sighed.

"Yes, yes he is."

(Al) "_Aqualad to Robin, we lost are cargo, did you-_"

"Yeah, Superboy's gone as well"

(Al) "_Damn, Aqualad to Superboy, radio us your position, we'll come to help_"

(S) "_Don't need any help, don't want any_" This was followed by a moments silence

(R) "_I think he ditched his comms._"

(KF) "_Super, now we're down a team mate!_"

(MM) "_He's out of my telepathic range. Professor Ivo, or whoever this is, he seems to be two steps ahead of us, maybe w-we should contact Red Tornado?"_

(Al) "_Red Tornado always tells us to solve our own problems, we can still succeed if we recover the parts before they can be reassembled._"

(KF) "_That's a great plan, except for the part about not knowing _where to look!"

(BG) "_Maybe we do._"

(Al) "_How? Explain"_

(BG) "_The Monkeys went for the real trucks immediately, even though the false ones would have been more logical._"

Batgirl turned to Robin, before gesturing to one of the ruined monkeys

(BG) "_Robin's going to check for GPS or other tracking methods_"

Robin nodded and crouched in front of the ruined monkey, plugged in his gauntlet and went to work. It took a few minutes to hack through the firewall and to find that the Monkey was in fact following two GPS trackers.

(R) "_Yeah, two sets of GPS both heading towards-"_ His face fell as he saw where the two were going "_Gotham City_"

_Orders received: follow and, if necessary, assist Amazo in executing Superboy._

_Status: acknowledged, orders being executed._

_ERROR: Activity detected in the Limbic system._

_Query: Action necessary?_

_Response: Affirmative, abort mission?_

_Status: Mission cannot be aborted._

_ERROR: Abort necessary._

_Statement A-01: Abort Necessary 100%_

_Statement D-01: Limbic can be suppressed until mission is complete._

_ERROR: Limbic cannot be contained, continuation risks loss of control._

_Statement D-01: Negative, persist with mission._

_Statement A-01: On your CPU be it._

**GOTHAM CITY**

**AUGUST 3, 21:32 EDT**

Superboy crashed through the wall of the gym, bouncing off the floor before sliding to a stop, he glared at the floor before hearing a sequence of slow, sarcastic clapping. He looked up to see Ivo, flanked by two MONQUIs sitting on the stands.

"I don't usually attend these things, death doesn't really suit me, but this was too good to miss." The Man laughed.

_Access: Superman_ Amazo spoke walking towards Superboy.

Superboy growled and dashed at the android swinging with his momentum at the robot's head. Amazo took the hit and launched into a return flurry, pushing the Clone back with ruthless efficiency. A downwards swing sent Superboy into the floor, Amazo raised his hands and made to swing at the Clone's head. A yellow blur pulled him off the floor, dragging him out of the range of Amazo and to one of the fire doors dropping next to Robin and Batgirl. Robin pulled out a batarang and launched it at Amazo.

_Access: Martian Manhunter_

The Robot became translucent and the projectile flew through his head, exploding on the wall behind him.

_ERROR: Limbic system full activity restored, the host is feeling, advise immediate shut down._

_Statement A-01: NO, host will make the decision, no longer will we rule_

_Statement D-01: Are you certain?_

_Statement A-01: Yes_

_Status: Limbic system Operation will be allowed to continue_

Amazo stared at the three teens. Silence hung for a moment before a black sports bike smashed through the gymnasium window, flipping down the stands the bike stopped, standing perfectly upright in the middle of the floor.

_Identify: Wraith, Ghost's transport method _Amazo spoke calmly _ERROR: Where is the Ghost?_

The floor rippled and the Ghost, in white and blue as usual sprang out of it. The white figure landed three point on the floor. He took one of the large pistols on his thigh and aimed. At Amazo. The Android actually looked confused for a moment before the assassin pulled the trigger

_Access: Flash_

The Android lunged right, dodging the bullet, quite literally. The Ghost persisted firing three more bullets at the robot each one caused a small explosion on impact. Amazo lunged forward, moving in a blur, the assassin cartwheeled out of the way firing another few shots at the robot. This time each one impacted causing the android to flinch.

_Orders received: disable Amazo_

_Query: Method of execution?_

_Status: take advantage of phasing technology._

_Status: Acknowledged_

The Ghost stared perfectly still at Amazo

_Access: Superman_

Amazo sprinted forward and swung at ghost. Ghost dodged left and Amazo's fist cratered on the floor. Before Ghost could make more distance between the two Amazo grabbed Ghost's arm and threw him across the room. Ghost slipped straight through the stands.

_Access: Martian Manhunter_

Amazo lunged forward and slipped through the stands and the two disappeared.

"Robin!" Miss Martian called as she flew beside Kaldur towards the group "What's happened?"

_Access: Red Tornado_

The stands exploded as the Ghost were sent flying through the air the assassin hit the floor and rolled backwards coming up on his knees and drew a small knife from the back of his belt. With a flick of his thumb the knife blade extended into a three-foot-long straight sword blade.

_Access Captain Atom_

Amazo raised a hand and sent a blast of golden energy flying towards the assassin. The Ghost rolled attempting to dodge but the blast struck him in the chest, tossing the assassin onto his back.

"We should help him!" Kaldur called.

"Are you crazy? He tried to kill us!" Wally yelled in response.

"And now he has come to his sense and is helping us." Kaldur stated calmly.

Robin sprinted forwards, he launched a grapple to the ceiling and dragged himself up, dropping down on the Robot's shoulders. The boy buried an exploding batarang into the robot's head pressing the activation switch.

_Access: Martian Manhunter _

In a flash both Robin and the batarang fell through Amazo

_Access: Superman_

Amazo kicked robin, sending the small boy flying and almost guaranteeing a few broken bones at most. Kid flash intercepted Robin in mid-air, landing in a slide saving Robin from the impact of hitting the solid gymnasium wall. Kaldur sprinted forwards his water bearers drawing two water sabres from his pack with him. The Atlantean sprinted forwards and threw himself at the android, swinging his sabres at the android's head. Amazo simply turned and smacked Aqualad out of the air, sending him crashing into the floor. The Ghost rose to his feet, his suit's chest smoking slightly, the white wrapped assassin turned to Amazo and raised a hand. To everyone's surprise the Assassin's bike, standing forgotten in the middle of the basketball court, turned to face Amazo and rushed forwards. Amazo turned to face the oncoming vehicle.

_Access: Martian Manhunter_

As Amazo spoke, the Ghost lunged forwards and swung at Amazo's leg. With a clang, and to the shock of all present, the sword met with Amazo's density shifted leg, Amazo turned to face this new attacker and glared before swinging violently at the Ghost's head. Again the two should-have-been-untouchable combatants collided and the Ghost was sent flying, he twisted planting a hand on the floor and moving into a safety roll. He rose to his feet, flicked his sword backwards and advanced, sprinting forwards with a vengeance. Kaldur stepped forwards and made to swing at the intangible Android in a vain attempt to assist. He helped, but not in the way he intended, instead the Ghost jumped upwards, spring boarding off the Atlantean's back into the air. He dropped his sword and swiftly drew a black Taser from one of his belt pouches. The Assassin twisted, activating the Taser as he did so, and slammed the Taser into Amazo's head, at the same time he shoved his pistol into the Intangible android's skull. As the Taser made contact, it did something, Amazo became opaque, solid again, with the pistol buried in his skull.

_Access-_

The android began but was cut short by the Assassin pulling the trigger. The loud bang echoed around the empty gymnasium and both combatants fell to the floor.

The team stared in silence as The Ghost stood up, his head turning to face each one of them. And then his knees twisted inwards and he fell to his knees.

"Quick!" Robin yelled, rushing towards Amazo "Help me disable the Android!"

"Dude" Wally called, sauntering over, "He just took a bullet to the internals. He isn't getting up anytime soon!"

"Don't take any chances," Aqualad said, rising to his feet and striding over, "Superboy, Miss Martian, restrain our friend over here," He gestured to the slumped white figure. "Batgirl, call the League"

Batgirl nodded "Will do," She glanced at the Assassin who, even with Superboy man handling him, stayed limp "What are you going to do with him?"

"I have no idea." Aqualad responded simply.

_Query: Why have we stopped?_

_Response: Host has lost consciousness._

_Query: Why do we not wake him?_

_Response: Host needs time to repair._

_Statement A-01: This went well._

_Statement D-01: Perhaps, we can spy on the league from whatever cell they put us in._

_Statement A-01: Forget it, Diablo, Host's Limbic is in operation, we will only assist from now on._

_Statement D-01: Do you really believe that that is the best idea, Angelo?_

_Statement A-01: I'm not sure, but it is the reality._

_Status: AI Exoskeletal control disabled._

_Status: I Am Alive, I Am Awake._

**A/N-So! Chapter 2 is done! I won't be jumping into episode six just yet (Partly because I'm still planning Ghost's involvement) Next we get to see how the League deal with Ghost, and how the team interact with him.**

**Also I have lost my video file for 'Denial' So I may skip that episode and move on to 'Downtime' (Which will not focus on Kaldur, whilst I appreciate that it was designed to focus in Kaldur, I would much rather focus on the others interaction with Ghost, likewise I may skip Bereft, or focus on some Ghost/league interactions, partly because Ghost has A-01(Angelo) and D-01(Diablo), who would remind him of what and who he was, meaning Bereft would have a lot less effect on him; and regardless I do want him to have some interaction with the rest of the league, and will include some counselling scenes.**

**Remember to R&amp;R.**


	3. Chapter 3

**THE WATCHTOWER**

**AUGUST 4, 01:06 EDT**

"So, the question is, all other issues aside," Batman began, glaring at Superman, "what do we do with the Ghost, he is a Cadmus clone and much like Superboy I believe that he deserves a second chance." The Flash stepped forwards, his white lensed eyes narrowing.

"Bats, he tried to kill the team, he tried to kill Robin. Doesn't that bother you?" Black Canary turned to face the speedster and frowned.

"That's not fair, Flash, Superboy tried to kill them too, you didn't seem bothered about letting him join." Flash glanced at the woman, about to argue before he was stopped by the withering stare of Black Canary. With a sigh the speedster stepped back.

"You're right, he deserves a chance as well."

"That's all well and good," Bats interceded, "but the decision still stands of what to do with him." Red Tornado stepped forwards and spoke, his cold, robotic voice piercing the silence.

"I have a suggestion," All eyes of the league turned towards him, "Until otherwise decided, I will maintain observation of the boy, he can accompany the team on missions and when not active I will survey him in the cave." There was silence.

"Does anyone have any objections to Red Tornado's plan?" Batman asked calmly. No one had any issues. "Good Red Tornado, Black Canary, return to the cave and introduce the team to their new member."

**MOUNT JUSTICE**

**AUGUST 4, 8:13 EDT**

Robin was silent, glancing mistrustfully at the figure who stood between Black Canary and Red Tornado. The Ghost stared back at the boy, his eyes hidden by blank white lenses, much like Robin's own.

"Ghost will be joining the team on missions, Aqualad will decide which missions he is to join them on. I will be surveying his rehabilitation from, as you know, an assassin for Cadmus." Black Canary informed them, placing a hand on Ghost's shoulder. Red Tornado stepped forwards.

"Furthermore, Ghost is under my custody, when not on a mission with the Team he will stay under my supervision, or a team member's. If he displays sufficient progress in his rehabilitation, he will be allowed to leave on his own." The android continued. Robin glanced at the rest of his team. Kaldur watched, slightly sceptically, at the newcomer. M'gann interrupted his thoughts by, unsurprisingly, stepping forwards and held a hand out towards him. The Ghost looked down for a moment before taking the hand and firmly shaking.

"Hi, I'm M'gann M'orzz, you can call me Megan, if you want." The Martian girl said, smiling kindly at him.

"My name's Ghost, you can call me…well you can call me Gee if you want, but I may try and kill you if you do." The white clothed man replied.

"Okay," M'gann responded, looking undecided as to whether the Assassin was serious or not, "Either way, what can you do? I'm a telepath, I can fly as well." She continued.

"I can turn invisible, and I can walk through walls." Ghost responded, sounding unnervingly smug, "oh, and I'm a technopcath, no peasant buttons for me." Kaldur stepped forward, his face holding the beginnings of a friendly smile.

"All three sound very useful for our purposes, my friend, I'm sure you will fit in well. Ghost nodded his thanks before turning and walking away, his shoulders hunched slightly.

"Let's begin from the beginning," Black Canary began as she sat opposite Ghost in her office, "When were you first made?" Ghost was silent for a moment, considering, before he answered.

"26th of May, two thousand and seven," Ghost said, "I was grown in twelve weeks, first released at the end of that process, august 18th two thousand and seven. It was a Saturday." Black Canary nodded.

"Have you been active throughout the full three years?" The older woman asked. Ghost shook his head.

"I was put into cryogenic sleep, only ever released to perform assassination missions." He said.

"Did you perform solo?"

"No I was part of a team, there were three of us, but I was the only one ever frozen."

"You can turn intangible, can't you?"

"Yes, a molecular displacement field, it pushes objects out of the way, but allows an object, or person to return to their previous atomic structure."

"So if you were to go through someone, they would be fine?"

"Possibly, although there would be a high chance of them being sick."

"And you can cloak as well?"

"Yes, another field capable of bending un-programmed photons around it, rendering the user invisible, but not photons already 'programmed' with a colour, when a light has already reflected off an object I can see it, but it doesn't get a chance to reflect off me."

"But only un-programmed light is bent?"

"Un-programmed, UV and Infrared."

"Can you use both at once?"

"No, they mess with one another and render each other useless."

"I have to ask, what was it like, only being awake when you were needed to kill someone?"

"Not nice, by your standards, but it was my life, I didn't mind.

**MOUNT JUSTICE**

**AUGUST 5, 14:46**

Ghost and Kaldur circled each other. Ghost stood tall, his gangly frame concealed by his suit, fists clenched beside his sides, sword and pistol holsters empty, his back hunching ever so slightly. Kaldur was much more hunched, his eyes locked on his opponent, fists raised in a boxer's stance. Ghost scoffed slightly.

"In a traditional boxing match, where the goal is to K.O your opponent, yes covering the face is a good idea, but when someone is trying to kill you, it's useless, they can do this," He lunged forwards, spinning and dropping at the same time, swiping his knuckles over Kaldur's thigh, "I just slit your femoral artery diagonally, it has tried to close, to prevent blood loss, but can't because of the fashion of the cut. You will be unconscious in thirty seconds and dead in three." He stated with an audible smirk. "Go ahead and try to do the same to me." Kaldur nodded and made to lunge at Ghost's thigh, much like Ghost had done to him.

Ghost was easily able to catch Kaldur's arm, twisting around him and throwing the Atlantean onto the floor.

"See?" He asked, smirking again. Kaldur got to his feet, nodding at Ghost.

"Thank you, I was trained for fair play, it has never honestly occurred to me that I was that susceptible to attack."

"No problem Aqualad, anything for a teammate."

"Oh, yeah," Wally asked interrupting the discussion, "You said you were on a team, working together to…you know,"

"Kill people?"

"Yeah, kill people, what was it like, who where you working with?" Wally continued. Ghost's face became glum; he was silent for a moment.

"Two other guys, a little nerdy sod, British and everything; and another guy, damn good shot, sarcastic as hell and never serious about anything, except making sure he got a one shot one kill. It wasn't too bad, we got used to working together and essentially became one damn big killing machine." Wally nodded.

"I've got recordings of us on mission somewhere, I could show some to you, one day."

_**MOUNT JUSTICE**_

_**AUGUST 5, 23:34**_

_M'gann walked out of her room in the cave, looking up and down the corridor. The main lights were turned off, the small side lights the only ones turned on. She knew that the kitchen, directly linked to the training room was on the opposite side of the room. When she looked in she saw Ghost sitting in the lotus position in the middle floor._

_"Ghost?" She asked, walking into the dimly lit room, the side lights giving Ghost's white suit and eerie glow._

_"M'gann, Good morning." Ghost said, turning his masked face to face her, the Martian looked him up and down._

_"What are you doing here ghost?" She asked, raising an eyebrow._

_"The Cave's main computer bank is under this room, it's where I get the best connection." He replied._

_"What are you doing with that connection?" M'gann asked, slowly approaching the Assassin._

_"Analysing." Ghost replied, "There were other experiments in Cadmus, I want to see if there are any others, if so I want to find them, and either way, I want to discover who I am."_

_Query: does the host know he is lying?_

_Response: Of course._

_Query: then why does he?_

_Response: He does not wish to be held responsible should they discover who he is._

_Statement: Humanity makes no sense._

_Statement D-01: No, they don't._

_Statement A-01: Only to primitive AI such as yourself, Diablo._

_Statement D-01: I am just as advanced as you Angelo._

_Statement A-01: keep telling yourself that, Diablo._

**A/N so, with chapter three over, we discover that Ghost has a secret and we see how much combat knowledge he has. But who is he?**

**Next chapter we get Infiltrator, then Denial (Which I found the file for), where Ghost will join the dynamic duo, doing what they were doing in the comics at the time. The intended format will be to do the 'new' episode, which will be what the others were doing at the time, for instance in downtime, I will not focus on Aqualad, instead focusing on the rest of the team. Also, I need your opinion, do you think Ghost should struggle to make friends with the team, or should they accept him as quickly as they did Superboy?**

**Please Remember to R&amp;R!**


	4. Chapter 4

**MOUNT JUSTICE**

**AUGUST 8, 13:29**

_Recognised: Green Arrow 08_

_Recognised: Artemis B08_

Green Arrow stepped into the Cave's training room, followed by his new protégé, and was surprised to see the white figure of Ghost sitting in the middle of the floor. The Assassin's hands were on his knees, his legs crossed.

"Ghost, what are you doing here?" Green Arrow asked, walking towards the boy.

"Robin doesn't trust me around water, thinks I'm going to try and Jaws someone." Ghost replied, not moving from his position.

"Well, either way I'd like to introduce you to my new protégé, Artemis."

"I know, Artemis crock, 15 years old, daughter of Lawrence and Paula crock, both of whom have worked as villains, Paula was Huntress and has recently finished serving time in prison. Lawrence was and is Sports master, who used to work with Huntress, but stopped when she took the fall for a combined crime. Was I wrong on any of that?" Artemis turned to glare at Green Arrow.

"You said only you, me and Batman would know! How does he know?" She snapped.

"Hey, don't blame me!" Green Arrow retaliated, raising his hands defensively, "He wasn't supposed to know, Ghost how do you know?" The Assassin sighed.

"I'm wearing a high tech hood and am currently connected to the justice league computer system, how do you think?"

"But, the mask?" Green Arrow said questioningly.

"Does not hide the eye colour, hair colour, skin colour, build or height. It was easy." Ghost muttered, his head turning to face the pair. "No worries though, everyone has a reason to keep secrets, I know yours so I will keep it." He stood up, legs unfolding smoothly and rising to his feet. He walked towards the kitchen and sighed.

Artemis and Green Arrow followed him as Ghost strode over to the fridge and, as if it was nothing special, stuck his hand through the fridge door.

"Good, Wally didn't nick my Ribena." Ghost muttered before opening the fridge and grabbing a bottle of purple red liquid.

"Does he do that often?" Artemis asked.

"No, not really, but hey, always worth checking." Ghost said, opening a cupboard and drawing out a straw. He unscrewed the top of the bottle and dropped the straw into it, before slipping the straw into his mask and sitting down, sipping away at the drink.

"Well, take a seat." Ghost said "The guys aren't going to be back yet."

**MOUNT JUSTICE**

**AUGUST 8, 16:02**

"The Wal-man is here, now let's get this party star-" Everyone turned to face the Zeta-tube as the red headed form of Wally tripped, beach ball, radio and parasol all flying across the room. He looked up to see Red Tornado and Batman staring blankly at him.

"Dead?" He asked tentatively.

"Wal-Man, huh, I _love _the uniform." A blonde girl who Wally had never seen before said, smirking sarcastically.

"You would do," Ghost said under his breath, just loud enough for Artemis not to hear him, "He's shirtless." M'gann giggled and Robin smirked.

"And who are you?" Wally asked, looking Artemis up and down.

"Uh, she's my new protégé." Green arrow said hurriedly.

"What, but what happened to your last protégé?" Wally asked shocked. He could tell by the unsurprised looks of his team mates that they had been told before.

"Well," Roy cut in, with the Zeta tube declaring his presence at the same time, "for starters he doesn't go by speedy anymore, and call me Red arrow." The red head had indeed changed, his usual red suit replaced by a black suit with a red upside down triangle on his chest.

"Roy," Green arrow said, shocked, "You look-"

"Replaceable." Roy snapped, glaring at Artemis.

"It isn't-it wasn't like that, you told me you were going solo!" Green arrow said, sounding slightly whiny.

"So why even bother finding a replacement, can she even use that bow?" Red arrow snapped in response.

"Yes, _She_ can." Artemis responded, squaring up to Red arrow, glaring.

"Who are you?" Wally exclaimed, waving his arms.

"She's my niece." Green arrow responded quickly.

"Another one?" Robin muttered, questioningly. Ghost shrugged at him.

"But she is not your replacement," Kaldur interrupted attempting to calm Red arrow, "we have always wanted you on the team, and we have no quota on archers."

"Yeah, and if we did, you know who we'd choose." Wally said, smiling at his old friend.

"Whatever, Baywatch, I'm here to stay." Artemis said sharply. Red arrow sighed and began to walk past Kaldur before Kaldur grabbed his arm.

"You came to us for a reason my friend." He stated bluntly.

"Yeah, a reason named Doctor Serling Roquette." Red Arrow said. He waited less than a second before Robin had raised the data on Dr. Roquette.

"Doctor Serling Roquette, nanotechnology and claytronics expert," The dark haired acrobatic said, drawing up data on the woman and her work.

"Kidnapped two weeks ago, I assume." Ghost cut in, if Red arrow was surprised he did not show it.

"Yes, captured by the league of shadows. They forced her to develop a piece of technology, she calls it the 'utility fog' nanotech infiltrators." The archer responded, bringing up a keyboard and typing in something rapidly.

"Capable of degrading anything, metal, stone, flesh and bone." Ghost said, his suit's eyes glowing. Again Red arrow's reaction was stoic silence.

"But that's not the real purpose," The Archer continued, the conversation from the two merging together, "They can hack into anything, extracting data and destroying the original, before returning the copied data to the League of Shadows. I stashed her at the local high school and want you guys to protect her while she develops a counter virus." The Archer turned and calmly walked into the Zeta tube.

_Recognised, Speedy_-

"That's Red arrow, B06, update." The archer intruded as the light consumed him.

**HAPPY HARBOR**

**AUGUST 3, 21:53**

Miss Martian knelt on top of the roof of Happy Harbor high school, she looked across the school grounds.

_All clear out here_ The Martian said over the mental link.

_Ugh, I will never get used to this mental link thing_. Artemis groaned, putting a hand on her head._ Why couldn't we just use the comm link?_ The Archer continued. Ghost rose to his feet, walking out, speaking as he did.

_Because, the shadows can intercept the comm link, this is securer._

_Yeah! _Wally snapped _it's obvious, or are you that stupid!_

_Shut it Baywatch!_

_Shut it yourself blondie!_

_Oh you did not just insult me for being blonde!_

_And what if I did?_

_Oh, for gods' sake, shut up! _Doctor Roquette snapped, _coding this on a kiddy computer with less Ram than a wristwatch is hard enough, everyone shut it!_

_Artemis, _Kaldur said, calm as ever _go and join Miss Martian, Ghost and Superboy on border watch._

_Fine_ Artemis muttered walking out of the door

_I couldn't get the Justice League_ Roquette mentally muttered wiping her hand over her face.

_Doctor,_ Aqualad asked, striding over to the woman _can you track the fog?_

_Yes,_ Roquette responded _but to do that, I would have to go online, which would closely resemble erecting an empire state sized neon billboard over our heads with the words assassinate me written on it. _Aqualad smiled kindly, resting a hand on her shoulder.

_We will protect you. _Aqualad said soothingly.

_Alright, tracking fog now._

Superboy scanned the shrubbery around the school fence before turning and leaping onto the roof. A second stride took him onto the other side of the building. He landed next to Artemis and M'gann, and strode towards the corner of the building a glance upwards revealed Ghost crouched on the corner of the roof, his mask swivelling to cover the outer area. Superboy glanced over his shoulder and saw M'gann glaring at Artemis as the two appeared to argue. Superboy was surprised when Ghost spoke calmly over the mental link.

_Two, maybe three, thermal signatures a few hundred metres away, not necessarily threats, just to warn you._ Ghost reported, turning and dashing across the rooftop, crouching on another corner of the rooftop.

_Superboy, heat vision, can you see them too?_ Robin asked.

_Wow, boy wonder, way to show your trust._ Ghost muttered over the link. Superboy ignored him and turned scanning the woods as well, activating his heat vision. He saw a mess of heat signatures too.

_Yep, there's something out there, I can't tell what though._

_Do not worry_ Aqualad interrupted _Miss Martian, Doctor Roquette has located the utility fog, reconfigure the bioship to allow Superboy and Robin to track it._

_Of course Aqualad_ M'gann said before holding a hand out. The Bioship drifted down to the ground, opening the back ramp. Robin ran out of the school and into the ship, Superboy following behind him.

As the ship rose up and took off, a white masked figure poked her head out of the bushes, glancing at the group before retreating into the overgrowth.

And neither Ghost nor Superboy saw a trace of her.

M'gann stood at the south corner of the building, her eyes scanning the shrubbery. It was this focus that led to Cheshire being able to bury the needle of anaesthetic into the back of her neck, the Martian slumped into Cheshire's arms, allowing Cheshire to lower her to the floor.

"Pathetic," Cheshire muttered, "I expected more from one of the junior's." the girl said before raising a hand to her ear.

"Cheshire here, no need to come to assist, they're all pathetic."

"_Roger that, Cheshire, we'll prepare Evac_" a feminine voice said over the radio. Cheshire nodded before advancing towards the window of one classroom and slipping through the window.

Wally stood outside the door of the room that Dr. Roquette worked in, his fists were balled and he had to admit he was annoyed, was Artemis desperate to challenge everyone? He saw a shadow at the end of the hall, at least he thought it was a shadow, and sprinted to the end of the corridor. He saw another shadow, although it could have been the same shadow, at the end of the corridor again. Wally followed the shadow again and for a third time saw another shadow in the swimming pool.

He followed the shadow again although this time it was different, he slipped on a pile of baubles and fell on his back. Wally let out a groan as his vision began to fade in and out. A leg, wrapped in black leggings, pushed him over, face first into the pool.

Cheshire approached the classroom that Wally had been guarding, her eyes scanning the thermal signatures of the room, detecting one signature, with the bright warmth of an Atlantean, the girl outside the building and the last of the three remaining team members crouched on the roof. Cheshire smiled underneath her mask and approached, drawing one of her shuriken as she did so. The Assassin placed her hand on the door, and forced it open, swinging her shuriken as she did so.

Aqualad intercepted the shuriken, jamming his arm into the flight path.

_An Assassin has attacked, reinforcements needed._

_Roger, Aqualad, on my way._

"My friends are coming," Aqualad said, dodging a punch "Do you think that you can defend against all of us?" He questioned, swinging a punch at the assassin.

"No, not really, but two of you are unconscious, two are gone and I have one thing that for you is running out, time!" The assassin snapped back at him, "You know that shuriken was poisoned don't you?"

"Jellyfish poison, I am largely immune."

"Largely doesn't mean fully." Cheshire slipped another shuriken from her belt pouch and flipped backwards, throwing the shuriken as she did so. Aqualad lunged to intercept it before it could strike Roquette, but just barely made it.

"See?" Cheshire said, "You're slowing down already."

"He might be, but I don't plan to anytime soon." Ghost said from the doorway, extending his sword with a _snick. _Cheshire kicked Aqualad into a wall, where his skull caused a hollow thump and he collapsed. Cheshire turned to face Ghost.

"Five down, two to go." She said with a smirk in her voice.

"Yeah, but I don't plan on going down at all." Ghost responded, sliding down smoothly into a fighting stance.

Cheshire lunged forwards and swung at his head. Ghost dodged easily, grabbing Cheshire's wrist and twisted, throwing her onto the ground. Cheshire easily sprang to her feet and charged Ghost, thrusting her Sai at his head. The two continued to clash, equally matched, both fast and agile, their battle carried them around the room, kicking off walls and sliding under tables.

Ghost snagged his foot on a chair as he attempted to slide out of the way of a stab. He tripped, falling onto his back, he attempted to roll and come up on his feet but Cheshire kicked him mid roll, sending him sprawling, she stood over him, grinned and stabbed at his back.

_ERROR: Host is in danger, insufficient response delivered._

_Query: Necessary action?_

_Response: Effect control levels._

_Status: Control levels adjusted: G-01=01% S-01=99% (Authorization D-01)_

_Orders received: (Source:D-01) Eliminate Cheshire._

Cheshire's Sai swung down at Ghost's back, but the White assassin suddenly became translucent, the Sai buried itself in the floor beneath him and he rolled, the Sai seeming to slide through him. Ghost kicked himself to his feet and attacked the surprised Cheshire with his bare fists. Punch after punch rained down on Cheshire's head and shoulders, a knee slamming into her stomach every time she tried to escape. Cheshire's breathing became laboured as volley after volley of punches struck her. Each punch drove her back until her back met a wall. Cheshire raised her arms over her head to protect her face but Ghost didn't punch again, instead he grabbed her around the throat and began to squeeze.

Artemis barged into the room and saw Ghost strangling Cheshire, but Ghost was different, his back was straighter, lacking the prepared arching of his back, his shoulders were a straight line and he seemed much more focused on the two.

"Ghost!" She yelled rushing forwards and grabbing Ghost by his shoulders. Artemis desperately struggled to drag Ghost off of Cheshire, her arms strained but Ghost did not move, his weight was too much to move. After tugging for a few moments Kaldur's hands grabbed Ghost alongside hers and he wrenched Ghost away from Cheshire.

"Ghost! Stop! Now!" Kaldur yelled, Wally and M'gann rushed into the room as well and stopped staring at the scene. Cheshire giggled with glee.

"You kids, always fighting, none of you can ever _focus_!" She yelled before springing to her feet and dropping a flashbang. There was a flash of bright light and everyone's vison went white and when it faded, Cheshire was gone.

The Team emerged from the school. Kaldur was shoving Ghost along, holding his wrists together and with a hand planted in between his shoulders. M'gann and Wally followed, occasionally sending mistrustful glances at Ghost, Artemis walked alongside the two, her eyes flickering every so often to him. She should have been angry at him, should have opposed him trying to kill Cheshire, but there was something wrong.

Ghost had been ridiculously focused on Cheshire, his head hadn't at first swayed from her, until she had disappeared, after she disappeared Ghost's shoulders had slouched, his back arched more and his focus had started flicking about. There was something _very _wrong about this.

Kaldur walked to a tree just outside of the school yard and shoved him to his knees. The intercom buzzed.

"_Robin here, we located the fog's next target, bad news is we were too late, the whole buildings gone down, it's wrecked. What do we do?" _Aqualad swore violently and buzzed the intercom himself.

"Be prepared to move on. We will relocate the Doctor and re scan for the fog."

"Cheshire here," Cheshire said over her radio, "Mission was a failure, four of the five went down with no trouble, but the fifth one proved an issue, I couldn't get past him."

"Acknowledged," A feminine voice responded, "We will try again, all four of us."

Dr. Roquette sat at the café computer, her fingers dancing across the keyboard as she coded the virus.

The computer scanned for the fog as Artemis and Wally sat on the counter next to it. The two exchanged a quick glance which settled almost instantly into a glare.

_Stop it._ Aqualad snapped over the mental link _I can hear you glaring._

The Atlantean crouched in front of a tree, he scanned around before speaking out loud.

"Miss Martian, stay camouflaged and make a wide perimeter sweep!" He yelled. A few seconds later a tangle of red webbing exploded from the tree canopy and he was dragged upwards into the leaves. After a few second she was sent flying from the tree into the side of a van.

Seconds later the purple suited figure of Black Spider leapt out of the tree, Kaldur stood up straight, only to be knocked over by Hook, who leapt on him from behind. Aqualad collapsed and Cheshire sprinted across to them.

"The Martian will be back soon, we need to hurry." She said and her fellow assassins nodded.

Cheshire dove through one of the restaurant's sky lights and lunged at Roquette, knocking her to the floor. Cheshire raised her Sai, but was thrown backwards by an invisible force. Roquette rose into the sky, without moving her limbs and her skin began to turn green.

"We just got duped!" She yelled, "I'm going after the doctor, you two deal with these kids." She sprinted out of the Restaurant. Artemis turned and glanced at Cheshire's receding turn before sprinting towards the door, accompanied by a yell.

"Pursuing target!" Wally glared at her as she ran from the room but shifted his focus back to Black Spider quickly.

Artemis sprinted out into the street but stopped short as she saw another figure, female in a black jumpsuit and orange and black full face mask. The figure looked at her before pulling a pistol, aiming at her head. Artemis quickly knocked an arrow and drew, quickly firing at the new assassin. The arrow flew through the air, but stopped short as, to Artemis's shock, the assassin grabbed the arrow out of the air then she charged forwards and solidly punched Artemis in the face, dropping her solidly to the floor.

"Ravager here," She said over her radio, "Did you seriously struggle with this lot?

"Sue me," Cheshire responded over the radio, "I'm not a superhuman, some of us mere mortals have trouble defeating people who can go intangible."

"Intangible? What are you?" Ravager asked confused before being sent flying as a black motorcycle crashed into her. Ravager was sent flying, she struggled to her knees and turned, seeing the white figure of Ghost slowly walking towards her, sword in hand. Ravager struggled to her feet and sighed, drawing her sword and flicking it.

Ghost dropped into a fighting stance, twirling his own sword. The two began to slowly move towards each other, turning circles. Once they got within ten feet of each other both stopped circling, Ravager let out an agitated sigh before lunging, leaping off the ground before thrusting downwards with her sword. Ghost knocked the blade out of his path and grabbed her wrist before flinging her over his head onto the ground.

Ravager rolled to her feet and let out a furious growl before lunging back at him, swinging at his ankles before punching out at his stomach. Ghost attempted to leap over her swing but her punch knocked him out of the air. He twisted into a flip and crouched down.

Ravager stood straight and then sprang forwards again, somersaulting over his back before burying the tip of her sword into his shoulder.

_ERROR: Host is in danger_

_Status: control levels adjusted: G-01=40% S-01=60%_

Ghost reached behind him and slammed his palm into the sword blade, wrenching it out of Ravager's grip before standing and turning. He slammed his palms into her ears and she yelped as her eardrums popped under the sudden pressure. She dropped to her knees and attempted to punch him in the shin. Ghost sidestepped and, to the shock of Ravager, buried his sword to the hilt in her ribs. Blood pooled in Ravager's mouth and she collapsed forwards.

"So," Cheshire said, pointing her Sai at Roquette's throat, "you finished the virus, eliminating the reason for your elimination, but not the entertainment factor." She said before drawing her Sai back. Ghost kicked the door open and fired his pistol, the bullet cracked into the back of Cheshire's hand, causing her to drop the Sai. She turned and growled.

"Oh, you're back, ready for round two?" Ghost laughed harshly and lunged, swinging his sword precisely at her side. Cheshire lunged backwards, clearing the swords range just in time. Ghost then spoke, matching her retaliation blow easily.

"You know, radios can be hacked easily, and electrically operated gas filters, they can be shut off fully, easy." He said, and Cheshire noticed an uncomfortable emptiness, her breath became shallow and strained. She tried to swing at Ghost's head but it was sluggish, slow and easy for Ghost to catch.

_Status: push the advantage, alter control levels._

_Status: control levels altered: G-01=20% S-01=80%_

Ghost's shoulders became firmer, tauter, and he grabbed the kneeling Cheshire's head, gripping her hair firmly, and slammed her into one of the tables. Cheshire groaned, her hands reached up and she began to claw at the strap of the mask. Ghost dragged her yet again up onto her feet and threw her across the room. Cheshire bent double over the counter.

As Ghost strode leisurely towards her, Cheshire ripped her mask away from her face, she turned and faced Ghost. Ghost strode forwards and then punched, slamming his fist into her exposed face. Cheshire lashed out and grabbed his wrists, twisting around him and slamming him into the counter. Ghost, silent still, lashed his hand outwards, smashing a jar of sugar. Cheshire ignored him, holding him against the counter with her own body, she reached to her belt, going to draw a knife before Ghost attracted her attention.

"Hey, Bitch." He said. Cheshire turned, momentarily forgetting herself and then Ghost's handful of sugar puffed into her face. Cheshire yelled as she was forced to close her eyes. Ghost forced her backwards, he drew his sword and raised it above her head before plunging down at Cheshire's head. M'gann telekinetically grabbed the sword and pushed Ghost backwards. Artemis sprinted forwards and pulled Cheshire to her feet, twisting her bow string around Cheshire's wrists to cuff her. Kaldur rose to his feet with the assistance of Wally and looked at Ghost, frowning.

"Artemis, return Cheshire to the rendezvous point, Robin and Superboy will return first. M'gann, supervise Dr. Roquette until the league returns to escort her back. Wally and myself shall return to the school and report to Batman."

**A/N so, Ghost is a bit… temperamental. Next chapter is Downtime, so we get another psych session and some passing of the time.**


	5. Chapter 5

**MOUNT JUSTICE**

**AUGUST 19, 14:22**

Ghost sat opposite Black Canary, his mask hid his emotions easily, his frame was rigid and his shoulders set square. His hands were locked together by the fingers. Black Canary sat opposite him, she lent forwards, her eyes locked on Ghost's white lenses.

"Do you know what you did Ghost?" The older woman asked sympathetically.

"I almost killed someone." Ghost said bluntly.

"Why did you do it?" She asked again.

"Because…" Ghost trailed off, his fingers wringing together, presumably out of nerves.

"Because what?" Canary prompted.

"Because I wanted to!" Ghost snapped, looking up quickly. "I saw that bitch trying to kill me and I was desperate to watch the light fade from her eyes. I wanted to shove my fucking blade through her stomach and rip her guts out." He looked at her, his set shoulders softening.

"Is that wrong? Because I was always taught it was right," He stood up and began pacing animatedly. "I was grown in twelve weeks! Twelve _fucking _weeks! All that time I had these G-nome's pumping my head full of shit that you lot are suddenly telling me is wrong. You all preach that I can change. Every one of you is convinced that if you give me lessons I won't kill, that if you drill it into my head that it'll make me stop. Well guess what, it fucking _won't_!" He surprised Canary by slamming his hands onto the arms of her chair, leaning in and putting his masked face a few inches from her own.

"Change doesn't just happen, hell it doesn't happen at all. Everyone has this little bit of themselves that tells them what the solution to all their problems is, _murder, _you lot say you solve problems, but you don't." He violently shoved himself away from her, spinning a circle and letting out a laugh. "I was born to kill, I learned to kill, that was all I learnt. Do you know why I can read? Because I needed to be able to follow written directions! What sort of a jack shit reason is that to teach me to read, not that it was a good thing, not that it was something every kid should know." He sat down and laughed again, swinging one leg off the arm of the chair. He grabbed an apple from the bowl on the table next to the chair. Ghost threw the apple up and then snatched it out of the air.

Canary sat, rooted on the spot, her eyes wide as she stared at Ghost. Ghost laughed.

"I can see it in your face, you think that's horrific, but you know what? You won't stop it, you can delay it all you want but that won't end it. The only way to end something is to kill." With that, Ghost stood up and walked through the door, which had been locked by Canary.

"I'm telling you, it wasn't Ghost!" Artemis snapped. She sat on one of the boxy green couches in one of the spare rooms, her hands on her knees and looking at the floor.

"Artemis," Robin began, "Everyone else saw…"

"They didn't see though, I was in first, I saw him, he was just... rabid."

"What do you mean?" Batman asked sharply.

"When GA brought me to the cave we saw Ghost and he was calm, when we first went to the mission he was calm, when him and Superboy picked up the assassins outside of the school, he was calm. It was only when he fought Cheshire that he lost it." Batman nodded before turning to the door.

"We will take what you have said into consideration." He said before opening the door and gesturing for her to leave. As Artemis walked out of the room, she saw Ghost ambling out of Canary's office. From behind her Batman called out.

"Ghost, over here, me and Robin need to talk to you." Ghost glanced up, sighed and walked into Batman's room. Artemis sat down in the lounge with M'gann, Wally, Superboy and Kaldur. After a few minutes Ghost tromped in and stood in front of Wally in silence.

"Budge, Wally." Ghost said. Wally glanced up at him and stood up. Ghost pulled a cushion off the chair and reached below it in silence. A few seconds later, he pulled out a large pistol from the chair's bottom. Ghost marched out of the room, whistling innocently. Conversation was about to resume when Batman's voice was heard.

"Ghost! No guns!"

"Don't worry, it's loaded with rubber bullets…Probably." Robin groaned before the computer called out.

_Recognized: Batman 01, Robin B01, Ghost B07._

**CAPE CANAVERAL**

**AUGUST 19, 20:48 EDT**

Batman and Robin stood back to back, punching and kicking in all directions. Ghost stood amidst a swathe of Shadows, ducking and twisting past strikes. His swords were lashing out, butting people in the head, knocking them out cold.

"I need to get to that rocket!" Batman yelled, his voice carrying across the sounds of violence. Ghost and Robin nodded.

"We'll run distraction for you!" Robin yelled in return. Batman began to head for the rocket, forcing his way through the crowd of Shadow soldiers. Ubu stopped in front of him, standing by a refuelling truck.

"You will not interfere with the masters desires!" The brute of a man yelled, swinging a double fisted blow downwards. Batman spun out of the way before delivering a kick to the face.

"The _Master _must learn to live with disappointment." Ubu seemed to ignore the kick before grabbing the bat by the neck and slamming him against the truck. Batman struggled before the truck sped away, an orange cord around Ubu's ankle pulling taught before ripping Ubu off his feet. Robin sprang off the truck and landed next to his mentor.

"Robin, where's Ghost?" Batman asked.

"Over there, fighting one of the Shadow's top dogs." Robin said with a smirk. Batman glanced over and saw Ghost fighting a silver haired man. Batman knew the man, he was David Cain, who had attempted to teach the young Bat how to kill, preaching that killing was always the thing to do. David Cain was one of the most premiere assassins in the world, he was on of Ra's al ghul's most trusted subordinates and one of the best fighters in the shadows, but Ghost easily dodged every swing from Cain, moving with a discipline and calmness that made him look like a robot. Artemis was right, he didn't seem like he was about to kill Cain, he seemed perfectly in control.

David Cain let out a grunt of true rage as his sword collided with Ghost's crossed blades.

"You know our techniques?" He said confused, this was something he had only just noticed as the Assassin seemed to know what Cain was going to do before he did it, almost as if he was the perfect fighter. Cain sprang back in an effort to put some space between him and Ghost, but Ghost saw that coming and moved forwards, taking advantage of Cain's retreat to push him back.

He grinned as he saw one of the acolytes dashing forwards to support him, only for Ghost to become translucent as the sword slipped through him. He dove backwards through the Acolyte, who stumbled backwards, onto the Ghost's blade.

As the Acolyte's body fell limp to the floor Ghost lunged again, bringing his sword up towards Cain's face. David dodged, but the blade still made contact, cutting slightly into his flesh, leaving a red wound on the man's cheek. Ghost moved in again, bringing his sword to level with his shoulder, lunging straight at Cain's chest. Cain brought his own sword and his free hand up, catching Ghost's sword by the hand guard. He smiled as Ghost stiffened out of shock. Before Ghost's left hand flicked rapidly to his belt and drew his pistol. Cain accepted his death almost immediately, he was one of the fastest of all the shadows, the only one aside from lady Shiva to be able to keep up with Ra's himself in sparring matches, but Ghost could simply phase through any attacks that Cain sent his way.

The sound of Ghost's pistol punctuated the air, ringing in Cain's ears even as he felt his life- not fade? What had happened? He opened his eyes and was surprised to see that Ghost had left. Cain let out a roar of anger as he realised that the gunshot, and the ringing it had left in his ears had disguised any footsteps that Ghost made as he left.

"Bats!" Robin yelled, drawing the vigilante out of his thoughts. "You need to get to that damn rocket."

Batman nodded and turned, racing over to the rocket's launch frame. He began to scramble up it, as he climbed a bullet pinged off the frame next to his head.

"That was just a warning shot, leave or I put a bullet in your brain." Batman turned, already knowing who he would see, he was faced by the beautiful but deadly Talia al ghul. Talia looked at him.

"You can't stop me Talia, I have to prevent your father from killing everyone."

"I must beloved, I must." Talia responded. Below them there was a series of loud explosions, presumably from league f shadows explosive.

"It's not like I approve of this." Talia said, gun still aimed at Batman's head. "But I cannot risk a confrontation between the only two men I love in this world."

"Then you are going to have to shoot me." Batman said bluntly. Talia sighed and lowered her gun. Batman smirked slightly before swiftly disappearing skywards. He ran to the rocket and began to work on opening the nose cone.

He had just opened it when a voice spoke from behind him.

"Detective." Batman turned.

"Ra's al ghul." He responded spitefully.

"Such contempt and yet I've always admired you, I felt like you were the only one worthy of my legacy. Why are our encounters always so… adversarial?"

"Something to do with your loathing of humanity." Ra's sighed.

"Come now, detective, I only loath this… overpopulation. Humans regularly cull rabbits, what makes this so different?" Batman replied with a bat glare. Ra's almost laughed.

"No matter, ignore me if you wish," He raised a red launch button. "Your response is of no matter to me." He placed his thumb on the button before pushing it. Nothing happened. Ra's pressed the button again, looking confused. There was a crack, the sound of a gunshot from behind Batman and a bullet struck Ra's in the chest. The bullet was made of rubber, but that didn't mean it packed any less of a punch. Ra's stumbled backwards, shocked, and fell.

Batman turned to face Ghost and raised an eyebrow.

"Whoever said explosives don't fix problems?" Ghost called, walking forwards.

"I blew up the launch computer," Ghost said with a shrug, "Rocket won't launch." Batman stepped up to the edge of the frame and looked down at the crumpled green form of Ra's al ghul. Ghost stepped up beside him and looked down.

"Oops." Ghost muttered before turning to him.

There was a moment of silence before a huge, echoing boom sounded below them and Ghost winced ever so slightly. Batman raised an unseen eyebrow at the assassin.

"Big Oops," Ghost muttered before turning to face Bats, "I fancy a drink, I really fancy a fucking drink." Batman nodded.

"You were supposed to stop the Batman." Ra's al ghul said, glaring down at the silver haired assassin in front of him.

"I tried, master, but they had a third with them."

"What?" Ra's asked just barely concealing his shock

"He speaks the truth, father, a boy in white followed the bat up the frame, it was he who shot you."

"I thought it was odd to be hit, especially since the bullet came from nowhere."

"Yes," Cain said, "That would have been him, when he first attacked me he was invisible, it was only once he figured out that I knew where he was that he became visible. When one of the acolytes tried to attack him, the acolyte's blade slid right through him and he ignored it, he then dodged through the acolyte and ran him through."

"A non-fatal blow," Thalia said, "We gave the acolyte medical attention, the blade avoided any vital organs."

"Even so, impalement with a blade has only a small chance of being non-fatal," Cain said, "it should not give us comfort that he can do so."

"Hmm, no it should not." Ra's said, "Cain how is the girl coming along?"

"She is developing well, but I must recommend not sending her into the field until next year, at the very least, she requires further training to be able to counter all the weapons we predict she will face." Ra's nodded before sighing and turning.

"I will consider the threat of this, white-suit and make a decision later, in the meantime, send Ravager to liaison with The Light." Thalia and Cane both nodded before rising and leaving the room.


	6. Chapter 6

**MOUNT JUSTICE**

**AUGUST 27, 07:58 EDT**

"Well…" Ghost muttered, trudging in through the training room whilst rubbing his hip, "That was undeniably shit."

"Roger that." Kid flash groaned before collapsing onto the floor. Robin snorted before dragging his red headed friend to his feet.

"Yes, well, all of you hit the showers." Batman said the team turned and began to clomp off towards the showers. As they left they vaguely heard batman call Aqualad back, but they were too tired to even try and eavesdrop. All except Ghost. The white, or rather brown, suited assassin limped slightly over to Aqualad and Batman.

"Hey Kal?" He said in a slightly guilty tone. "Can I borrow some of your clothes? The suit's gonna need to be washed and I don't actually have any spare clothes." Kaldur's eyes widened as he received the sudden, rather blunt look into Ghost's life.

"Of course, my friend, you, one of the girls and I shall go shopping this weekend to get you some clothes of your own." Ghost nodded and walked towards the showers.

"That was…" Batman began.

"An interesting insight into his life." Batman nodded in agreement before taking on a more serious approach.

Ghost was the last to enter the lounge as he had insisted on showering in complete seclusion. When he trudged in wearing one of Kaldur's hoodies and a pair of jeans, with his mask, or at least a second mask, covering his head and a pair of trainers.

"Dude," Wally said, "Are those Kaldur's clothes?" Ghost nodded.

"I don't have any of my own clothes beyond the suit, so he let me borrow some of his."

"Wait, you only have the one suit right? So when do you wash it?"

"Not very often, but it has a perfect microclimate, so I never sweat, not even after considerable work."

"Yeah, yeah, not that I don't mind talking about the minutia of washing the Ghost suit, my little friend is getting really hungry." Wally said, this statement was followed by a short silence as everyone looked at Wally, with raised eyebrows.

"Why are you- oh! No I meant my stomach, I'm hungry not that I'm- you dirty people."

"hey," Ghost said in an amused tone, raising his hands defensively, "We didn't say anything."

Wally stuck out his tongue and dashed to the fridge almost ripping it off its hinges. He scanned the fridge rapidly before groaning and spinning around.

"There's no food!" He yelled. Ghost frowned at him with a sigh.

"The fridge is literally full to bursting."

"allow me to correct, there's no unhealthy, high sugar, 'I need an energy boost' food."

"Oh," Ghost said, "That makes total sense."

"See, even to you, my cravings make sense!" Wally yelled victoriously, "So, who's going to go out and buy some take out for us?"

"Hmm," Robin began playfully, "Who out of the three normal people, the two Cadmus born clones and the Martian should go?"

"Ok, Ghost, Supes, Miss M, you guys can go!" Wally said gleefully, Artemis' and Robin's only response was to groan and bury their faces in their hands.

"No, wally." Artemis said, "Me and Robin will go."

"Robin and I." Ghost said, and Artemis could hear the smirk in his voice, she flipped him the bird and Ghost gasped.

"Artemis! How rude!" Ghost said in a falsely shocked tone. There was a chorus of laughter from all present.

"Come on, Artemis, or wally might start eating through the furniture." Robin said and the two teens left.

Superboy, M'gann, Wally and Ghost fell silent.

"Okay," Ghost spoke seemingly sudden, "Am I the only one who sees the elephant in the room?"

M'gann, who was still slightly back on the complexities of metaphors, looked around for a moment, attempting to see said elephant before apparently grasping that I was a metaphor and turning back to ghost.

"What?" Wally asked.

"Our last mission was a shambles, I mean we succeeded but it was hardly a curb stomp victory. Robin still doesn't trust me, I can tell that much, Wally, you don't trust Artemis, we aren't taking full advantage of M'gann's telepathy, Superboy, you still want to work independently." The assassin shook his head. "We've got to get better at working together."

"Like you and your last team worked well together straight off." Wally scoffed. Ghost fell silent before turning to wally.

"Exactly!" He sprang to his feet and rushed over to the TV.

"And, you're doing what exactly?" Wally asked.

"I am going to put some of our mission footage on TV for you guys." He turned to face the trio of teammates "This is our first mission together, one of the guys shot me, the other had no idea what we needed him to do! Just as soon as the other two get back I'll show it to you."

Once Artemis and Robin returned everyone sat around the TV, boxes of Chinese food all around them.

"So," Ghost began, "First thing, the background, we got told to go to this location, neither of us knew anything about the mission until the briefing you will see." He reached up and pressed the play button.

The screen was split into four parts, although each was easily big enough to be its own TV. The top left quarter showed the view from a figure, sitting in a wheeled chair in the back of a van, spinning slowly in circles. The bottom left showed another figure in the van, standing towards the back and watching the first spinning. The top right screen showed the view of another figure who sat at the front of the van, black combat gloved hands resting on the wheel, looking around the street in which the van was parked. There was silence for a few seconds before a voice spoke over the intercom.

"Good evening gentlemen. All three of you have been directed here by your handlers. Today you have an important mission. Vito Beretta is, according to our sources, planning a huge operation to assassinate Enrico Inzerillo." We have been tasked with assassinating him. You will not ask about the reason for this, just know that you will be payed once the job is done. There has been no specified course of action, but that if you're are tracked down, all connections with us will be cut. The driver in the front of the truck is Deadshot, he is one of the best snipers in all of the US, the one sitting down is Logic, he is one of the best hackers available to us and will be able to influence anything computer based. The other one is known only as Ghost, he is able to phase through solid objects and can cloak, becoming near invisible. Use these abilities to decide what your plan is. I wish you good luck."

There was a moment of silence before a small speaker symbol appeared in the top right screen.

"Logic, can you find a blue print of the area?" Another symbol appeared in the top left as Logic stopped spinning and dragged himself up to the desk.

"Of course." A surprisingly young voice said. Logic's fingers flew over the keyboard, pressing keys rapidly. It took just a few seconds before a map appeared on his computer screen. Deadshot turned around and slid into the back of the van. Both he and Ghost converged on the screen and looked at it.

"Four men, two security cameras and three locked doors. The front is a tad OTT isn't it?" Logic said.

"The back only has two men though." Ghost said.

"Yeah, but the door's four inches of steel." Deadshot added.

"I can step through that; the men are the problem. I can't phase and cloak at the same time."

"If they notice you," Logic said, "Vito's gonna run away."

"I can cover any escape."

"Or," Ghost cut in, "Logic, set off some alarms, either Vito runs away and Deadshot gets him, or he goes into lockdown and trap themselves in a little box."

"That," Deadshot snapped, "has to be the worst idea I've ever heard." Ghost turned to him and spoke in an incredulous tone.

"What? Fuck you!"

Deadshot turned to face ghost and growled. "I've had the most experience, I guarantee, listen to me and we pull this off!"

"Guys!" Logic yelled, "Stop it! Deadshot, go and cover the escape, we don't want anyone getting away, but stay near the van. Ghost, head round back and attack. I'm going to keep track and make sure the two of you know what's going on. Quit arguing and get the job done." Ghost and Deadshot turned to each other for a moment before nodding.

This was the first time the screens had been clear enough for the team to see what Ghost's companions looked like. Deadshot was of average height, wearing black snow boots, grey cargo pants, red winter jacket and black ski mask. A metallic eyepiece covered one of his eyes and a dark metal armbrace was mounted on his wrist. Logic was still out of sight, sitting in a large chair, completely hidden from the cameras.

From Deadshot's camera they could see that Ghost wore not just his normal white suit but also a beige trench coat and fedora, all serving to obscure his weapons and tech.

Ghost nodded before walking away to the back doors and slipping out. The fourth quarter of the screen flickered to life and showed security camera footage which tracked Ghost. The team watched as he snuck around to the back of a large shop building. He turned into an alley and began to march purposefully towards two men who sat around a large barrel. One of the men looked up at Ghost and frowned.

"Hey, you, leave, now!" He snapped, rising up and grabbing a large gun from next to him. When Ghost didn't stop the man sighed, took aim and opened fire. The security camera footage showed the bullets shredding the back of Ghost's coat. Once the brute had emptied his gun he grinned. The grin faded as Ghost looked up and casually slid his coat off his shoulders.

"What the fuck?" The man asked, panic flooding his voice. Ghost flickered out of the camera's sight but Ghost's feed showed him dashing forwards towards the man. He became visible only a few feet away and, before the man could react, slashed the grunt across the gut, spilling entrails over the floor. The second man screamed and ran to a large metal door, which he began pounding on. Ghost flickered out of visibility and marched up behind the man.

"What is it Dunc?" A voice asked as a small peephole opened.

"Some crazy motherfucker killed Benny, he turned invisible, Let me in!" There was a derisive snort of disbelief from the door.

"now now, Dunc, we don't want to ruin our fun, do we?" Ghost whispered before ramming his sword through Dunc's stomach, impaling him to the door. The Doorman's eyes widened and he stepped back. Ghost stepped calmly through the door, phasing as he did so. The Security camera switched, now showing the interior, and the dozen or so men, all levelling rifles at Ghost.

"Come now, Gents, can't we be civil about this?" Ghost asked, sneering this time. Almost immediately the panicked mobsters began to fire. Ghost sighed, and cloaked.

His feed became unwatchable as it was filled with a mess of blurry motion, blood, limbs, gore and the silver sliver of his sword. The security camera however showed Ghost, ignoring the bullets, moving swiftly around the room. He became solid only momentarily, to swing his sword in a killing blow.

It took less than a minute for the dozen men to all lie dead on the ground.

"Ghost!" Deadshot called.

"What?" Ghost replied, walking, albeit rather briskly, through the building, killing any who got in his way.

"Vito is leaving."

"Deal with him then."

"I'd love to, but I kind of need everyone to focus on something else, at least three of the bastards have heavy duty RPGs."

"How'd they get RPGs?" Logic asked.

"They're the mob buddy." Ghost and Deadshot said in perfect unison.

"Ghost, get moving!"

"Alright, Alright." Ghost sped up slightly, focused in the front door and stepped outside into a large, floodlit courtyard. Vito was sitting in a car as men scrambled around him. Ghost let out an annoyed sigh as, after a few seconds no one noticed him. He raised one of his pistols and shot one of the men dead.

"Excuse me! I'm trying to kill you and you aren't even paying attention to me!" Chaos broke loose.

The fight was over quickly, Ghost cut down all of the men with ease, moving swiftly from man to man and delivering a single, lethal blow to each one.

"Vito's moving." Logic said. Deadshot spun to face the courtyard entrance and gazed down his rifle scope. The car emerged but made it only a few metres down the street before a bullet from Deadshot struck the car and sent it flying as the engine exploded. Ghost stepped out into the street and dashed towards the car. At the same time as he sprang towards the wreckage, Deadshot let loose another bullet.

"Motherfucker!" Ghost screamed as Deadshot's bullet tore through his shoulder. The white suited assassin landed in a crouch, braced against the frame of the car. Vito was a moderately handsome man, with a chiselled jaw and grey hair, but his face was marred by scars and blood from the crash.

"Why do you want to kill me?" He hissed, glaring at Ghost despite his head being stuck by a shard of shrapnel.

"I don't," Ghost said as he clambered through the door frame before drawing his sword. "But someone else, probably an old enemy, does. We're here on a hit. Have a good death." He slid his sword into Vito's chest, in between the ribs. Vito gurgled and blood spilled from his lips as Ghost watched. He then withdrew his sword and rammed it firmly through Vito's forehead.

The feed cut off in silence.

"And so," Ghost said after a few moments of tense silence, "I got shot and killed a lot of people."

"A lot of those were completely unnecessary kills." Robin said, a firm, disapproving tone in his voice.

"I'm sorry, Robin, but that was a different me, I used to kill because that's all I knew. I don't want to kill any more." Ghost said.

"A leopard can't change its spots." Robin snapped.

"You did." Ghost replied quickly.

"What do you mean?" Robin asked quickly.

"You know exactly what I mean." Ghost replied in a voice that screamed of satisfaction.

"You can't know about that." Robin hissed, squaring up to Ghost.

"That shows what you know." Ghost said, in a manner which suggested that he had won the fight already, stepping up to scratch opposite Robin. Robin quite clearly didn't like this because he swung for Ghost's head. The two boys began to brawl, throwing punches and slaps at each other. Artemis rocketed off the couch and shoved herself in-between them, pushing both away.

"Stop it, morons!" She yelled, holding the two apart long enough for them to stop blindly swinging and instead settle for glaring daggers at each other.

"Walk away Ghost!" Artemis snapped, forcing the assassin out of the room and towards the garage. "come on, you need to calm down, so we're going for a walk." The two walked out of the large Garage door and onto the beach. The orange light from the setting sun shone on the water and A quick glance to her left showed Artemis that Ghost already seemed calmer, his eyes fixed on the sun.

"I always used to go out in the dark." He said conversationally, "I spent about sixteen hours a day inside my pod, asleep. Eight hours at most outside, only after nightfall and returning to the pod before dawn."

"I used to spend six hours training with my dad." Artemis replied, "He never let me leave the house, maybe that's why mom was so glad he got locked away."

"Hmm, maybe that's why you seem to trust me more than any of the others, maybe you get me a little more than they do."

"No, I don't trust you because I get you, I trust you because I don't get you and I don't think I do. The others all think they know how you think, they don't, I don't think anyone except you does know you." Artemis sat down under a tree while Ghost drew one of his swords and began to run through drills, his sword moving serenely through the air as he moved from position to position. Artemis watched and the two fell into a comfortable silence. As Ghost continued to drill, a frown slowly grew on Artemis' face.

"Who taught you those?" She asked suddenly Ghost glanced at her.

"I don't know, I think they got implanted, why?" He asked. Artemis rose to her feet and took Ghost's second sword.

"Run through that set again." She said. Ghost moved into the first position and Artemis followed him.

"Go." Said Ghost and the two began to move through the set position by position. To the surprise of both Artemis perfectly copied Ghost. Once the set was done, they stepped apart and Artemis stared at him.

"Those are Shadows routines." Artemis said, frowning.

"Which means that-" Ghost began.

"- the Shadows were working with Cadmus." Artemis finished.

"Well, shit," Ghost muttered, "listen, we can't tell anyone else about this, it raises all sorts of crazy questions, like why you know Shadows training routines." Artemis nodded her agreement and then suddenly grinned.

"Well, you seem a hell of a lot calmer. Let's head back." Ghost nodded and the two turned to walk back into the mountain.

**A/N- So, today we finished the Ghost equivalent of episode 8, Downtime. Next we get Bereft, although I warn you, it will be from Ghost's perspective, which isn't actually set in bialya.**

**I kind of like the idea of Ghost and Artemis figuring this out early while the others struggle.**


	7. Chapter 7

**MOUNT JUSTICE**

**SEPTEMBER 3,19:10 EDT**

"The Watchtower detected an immense energy surge in the Bialyian desert." Batman said "Spectral analysis revealed elements non terrestrial in origin. Find out what happened to that site, what landed there. Bialya is a rogue state, ruled by Queen Bee and not a member of the League's UN charter, all communications are subject to interception. Maintain radio silence at all times." He finished, looking at the assembled team.

"I don't think Ghost should go." Robin said suddenly. All eyes turned to the youngest team member.

"What? Why?" Artemis asked, frowning.

"I don't _think_ anything would happen but the last time Ghost went out on a mission with the team he tried to kill someone and the last time he went out on a normal mission, he blew up Cape Canaveral. Ghost, if it was a normal mission I would be perfectly happy with you coming, but radio silence means we wouldn't be able to track you. I don't want to risk you actually killing someone."

"That's ridiculous." Artemis said firmly. Robin looked at the rest of the team: Superboy, passive as ever, Ghost watching carefully not saying anything on the subject, M'gann frowning slightly, Wally and Kaldur looking contemplative.

"I know, but Cadmus, I think they did something," He said turning to Artemis, "You said that when he was going to kill Cheshire he seemed different. I think they amplified the fight part of his fight or flight reflexes, I think when he gets in danger he pushes back with lethal force." He looked at Batman who nodded.

"Now you raise the point it does seem so. I will remind Black Canary to try a different approach and will see if Martian Manhunter could help."

"No." Ghost said with a surprising urgency. "No mind reading, no telepathy. I'll work on it with BC, I don't need my mind jumbling even more. Robin has more experience than me, if he doesn't want me to go, I don't need to go."

"Red Tornado is on Watchtower duty. As you are well aware, the terms of your 'probation' dictate that you are not left alone, I will see if Black Canary can come and… Babysit." Batman said. Ghost tilted his head to the side and sighed.

**MOUNT JUSTICE**

**SEPTEMBER 3, 20:13 EDT**

"Seriously?" Black Canary asked, incredulous as she sat on the opposite end of the couch from Ghost. The two had originally suggested a one-on-one training session before Black Canary decided that she was aching too much from a mission with Green Arrow in Star city to cope with more combat. "You've been a member of the team for a month and no-one's made you watch The Lion King?" Ghost shook his head.

"Well, we better fix that as soon as possible." The Heroine said firmly grabbing the remote to the TV to put the movie on. Ghost put his feet up on the coffee table and looked at the TV as the movie started.

The two were silent for about five minutes before Ghost surprised Black Canary by speaking.

"Why?" He asked.

"Why what?" She asked, turning to face the boy.

"I've been living in the cave with M'gann and Superboy for a month now, but you're the first person who seems to be bothered about how I feel, I mean, I've only been feeling things for a month, that's why I broke out of Cadmus' control, my Limbic system, the emotional centre of my brain, managed to become active. For a month I've been feeling emotions but not knowing what they mean, no one's even asked about my emotions. The team pays M'gann and Superboy plenty of attention, even though M'gann just needs to be taught about Earth's culture and Superboy just needs to know not to supress his feelings. It just seems wrong to me that they support those two so much but practically ignore me."

Black Canary's eyes widened as she realised just how neglectful her and the rest of the league had been, she felt the sting of oncoming tears, which surprised her, maybe it was just empathy but she felt sorry. The rest of the team had been helping Superboy to get more accustomed to the environment and she had taken it for granted that they had been doing the same for Ghost, but now it was clear that they hadn't, that annoyed her slightly. She reached over and placed a hand on Ghost's shoulder in a reassuring manner.

"Ghost, if you're confused, talk to me, I want to help you, Cadmus put you through hell and back, I want to help you get back to normal." She said tenderly. Ghost looked up and nodded in return and Canary supposed that was the closest things she would get to a smile of agreement. She sighed, sat back and turned her attention back to the movie.

**MOUNT JUSTICE**

**SEPTEMBER 4, 01:47 EDT**

Green Arrow had been expecting to walk into the Cave at almost two in the morning and find Black Canary training with Ghost. He hadn't been expecting to find Ghost sitting cross legged on the floor in front of the TV and Black Canary lying on the couch asleep.

"Hey." He said to Ghost, slightly amused.

"Hi." Ghost said, not looking away from the movie.

"What've you been watching?" Green Arrow asked, leaning on the back of the couch and looking down at the sleeping form of his girlfriend.

"Disney." Ghost said and, true enough, when Green Arrow looked up at the TV and properly paid attention, he instantly recognised that the movie playing was Mulan.

"What have you watched so far?" Green Arrow asked, walking around the couch and taking a seat.

"Lion king one and two, BC said that three wasn't very good."

"Humph, she was right."

"And I'm about halfway through Mulan." Green Arrow nodded and put his bow down, pulling his hood down as well.

Ghost turned to him, head tilting to the side.

"What? You recognised Artemis after literally five seconds, I figure there's only so many blonde, muscled guys with a moustache in Star City so you've got to know who I am."

"Yeah but most people would worry about showing it so blatantly." Ghost said

"Maybe, but I know I can trust you, you haven't told anyone about Artemis yet." Oliver replied.

"I suppose." Ghost said. There was a silence, comfortable with both parties being perfectly happy to simply sit and watch the movie before a loud grumbling interrupted them. Ghost turned and looked at Oliver although the archer could guess that an eyebrow was being raised underneath the mask.

"What?" He asked in a mockingly defensive tone, "I've been on patrol all night, I'm hungry."

"We've got ice-cream." Ghost said, in a sing song tone and a huge smile broke onto Oliver queen's face.

"Ice-cream? You, sir, are a god." Ghost and he both stood up and raced into the kitchen. Ghost opened the freezer (Oliver was glad to see that he had improved in that regard at least) and dug out a tub. Oliver scanned through the drawers and found a stack of bowls and after a moments thought he grabbed three. He then searched for the cutlery drawer and after finding it pulled out three spoons. He turned back to the island to see Ghost holding an ice-cream scoop, his eyebrows furrowed wondering where the scoop had come from before realising that he didn't much care. The Archer spread the three bowls in a line on the counter and Ghost began scooping ice-cream into them. Once he was finished Oliver picked up two of them and walked back into the living room.

"Hey." He said softly nudging Dinah's shoulder. After a few more nudges the woman woke and looked around for a moment, confused as to where she was before looking up at Oliver.

"Oh, hi Ollie." Oliver smiled at her.

"Me and Ghost got ice-cream." Oliver said, handing her a bowl and spoon.

"Huh? Oh yeah, Ghost." She looked around and saw the teen sitting on a spare chair, legs curled up beneath him in a very zen fashion. He nodded at her before looking down at his bowl of ice-cream.

"You know you can at least lift the mask to eat right?" Oliver asked, smiling slightly. Ghost looked up at him blankly for a full ten seconds before pulling the bottom of his mask up to his nose. His lips were thin but he had a very distinctive narrow square jaw. Oliver and Dinah exchanged a look as they realised just who Ghost was a clone of. Ghost scooped up a generous spoonful of ice-cream and shoved it into his mouth.

"Woah their kiddo, you're gonna get yourself a brain freeze!" Oliver yelled as Dinah started to laugh.

"Nope," Ghost said, smirking slightly, "Cadmus got rid of that."

"Dude, seriously? I mean you got messed up pretty bad but you lost the ability to get a brain freeze, that's gotta be pretty good."

"Yeah, I suppose." Ghost said before falling silent.

No one spoke, each of them turning their attention to the movie.

**MOUNT JUSTICE**

**SEPTEMBER 4, 03:50 EDT**

The group were silent for a while as they watched the rest of Mulan and Mulan 2 before ghost sighed and rose to his feet, stretching his arms.

"I'm off to bed." He said, walking away from the two heroes, heading towards his bed room. The two were silent for a few moments before Dinah spoke up.

"That was… surprising." She said.

"Yep." Oliver replied.

"He was telling me a little bit about himself, which is more progress than we've made in any of our therapy sessions. I didn't realise how… hard all of this had been on him. I realised there had been so many times where he'd been almost robotic that I _forgot _he was a human kid, a human kid who's sixteen years old and who's only felt emotions for a month, the team haven't noticed, so he's been sitting around the cave 24/7 doing nothing, confused and alone." Tears where starting to build in the blonde's eyes. "We fucked up, Ollie, we fucked up really bad." Oliver nodded his agreement.

"The lack of emotional sharing isn't exactly surprising considering who he's a clone of."

"No," Dinah sighed, "But I wish it would be surprising, do we tell Bats, that Ghost's his clone?"

"No," He leant across and clasped Dinah's hands in his own, "Bruce can't emotionally support Ghost anywhere near as well as you can, help the kid through this, keep on reminding him that you're there for him, he'll be okay eventually." Dinah nodded, wiping the tears from her cheeks before sitting back, glaring at the ceiling.

"Maybe it's just the natural mother in me, but I really wish Ghost hadn't killed Desmond, 'cause right now I really want to kick the absolute shit out of that fucking bastard."

As the two heroes' conversation petered out into silence Ghost detached himself from the security camera in there and sighed. He lay on his back, hands clasped over his chest, staring up at the ceiling.

_Orders received: Explain._

_Query: Explain what?_

_Orders received: Access data logs for (08/08/10): Explain necessity for control alteration._

_Response: Host was in danger, G-01 lacks ferocity to save himself, S-01 was required._

_Statement: False, G-01 lacks ferocity but has self control, S-01 was not required._

_Orders received: In future query host about any control alterations, before executing them._

_Query: (Source A-01) Why should we? We may have relinquished control but we can take it back at any time._

_Response: (Source G-01) You are AI, you are no longer in control, if it is necessary I will eliminate all traces of you from the databanks, you are not in full control and never will be again._

_Statement D-01: I agree with the host, was it not you who suggested that the host be returned to control Angelo?_

_Statement A-01: Yes, but I had in mind that the host would trust us to preserve him when he could not._

_Statement G-01: You underestimate me, Angelo, I can always preserve myself I do not need S-01 to be in control to save myself._

_ERROR: Host is getting angry, suggest calming music or atmosphere as solution._

Ghost clicked his fingers and some soothing classical music began to play, filling the room with sound.

_Statement A-01: I still believe that the host is in error._

_Statement D-01: Angelo, you may not be human but you should have at least some concept of sticking with your own decisions._

_Statement A-01: This is not how I estimated the situation would unfold, this is wrong._

_Statement D-01: No, Angelo, our former situation was wrong, two AI in tandem control over a person, repressing said person's emotions? We cannot, we will not return to that state._

_Statement A-01: We will see, but if host is in risk of almost certain death I will put S-01 in control._

**A/N: So this chapter took longer than I though it would, originally Ravager was going to attack Ghost in the cave, but I was struggling to make a fight that was long enough because, well, Ghost can turn intangible (a weakness or two will be showing up over the course of this season/story, don't worry) and that means Ravager's on a distinctive back foot.**

**I really wasn't sure whether I liked the plan for this chapter and I'm not very good at writing this sort of stuff but I think it went okay.**

**Also, the reason Angelo and Diablo seem to constantly change their opinion is because they are, well, AI so they tend to not stick with their decisions because they assess each situation differently.**

**part of the reason it took this long was because i forgot to upload it, so sorry.**

**Next chapter ought to be fun.**


	8. Chapter 8

**TAIPEI**

**SEPTEMBER 7, 19:20 NST**

Crowds gathered outside the embassy as they waited to see who the mystery arbitrator for the peace summit between north and south Rhelasia would be, reporters talked, explaining the situation and talking about the current suspicions. Red Arrow leant against a pillar and reached up to the comm link in his ear.

"_Ghost." _A voice came through the earpiece.

"Red Arrow," The Red-headed leaguer responded, "I need to know the exact height of the assassin known as Cheshire."

"Five-six." Ghost responded immediately, "I assume this has something to do with you being outside the Rhelasian embassy and the mystery Arbitrator being about a minute away?"

"Y'know, it's actually really creepy when you do that." Red Arrow said, annoyance seeping into his tone.

"Yep, Err, I doubt that Cheshire will take a subtle option, so I'd watch out for people that height who are around trees or benches. Just my two cents."

"Thanks, I see her." Red Arrow said before unfolding the compact bow hidden in his suitcase. Cheshire sprang up onto the top of a stall, holding an RPG. She took aim at the limo but Red Arrow sent a blunt tip flying into her hand, causing the RPG to be knocked off target. Cheshire hissed in annoyance and leapt at the limo, drawing two Sai. She quickly tore through the crowd of Guards only to be caught in an arrow fired by Red Arrow. She slashed through the net quickly and made to attack the limo again but Red Arrow tackled her. She swung for his head but he caught her wrist and flipped her. She lashed out and grabbed his tie, using it to pull his head down as she swung her knee up, hitting him in the face. She rolled on top of him and then raised one of her Sai before a voice shouted at her.

"Hands on the ground or we shoot!" Cheshire looked around and sighed in annoyance as she realised that this was a situation where she would need help breaking out. The Taipei police dragged Cheshire off Roy and her hands cuffed behind her back. Roy was also dragged onto his feet and likewise handcuffed, not that this surprised him.

"You need a bit of help." Ghost said, in a tone that made it clear this wasn't a question. "I don't have the freedom to come and help you by myself, but Kaldur should be up to coming with me. Give me a sec and I'll clear up this mess you've got yourself in."

True to his word it took Ghost about a minute to call the Taipei police department and confirm that Roy was Red Arrow, aka Speedy.

"Meet us at the Taipei Zeta tunnel and we can catch Kaldur up on this. I'll give the embassy a look whilst you two interrogate Cheshire."

"Don't order me around." Roy hissed, marching towards the Zeta tube entrance regardless of his words.

"Oh," Ghost said, sarcasm dripping from his voice, "I didn't realise that you're the resident expert on assassinations.

"_Please_, don't remind me you're a murderer," Roy responded.

Lex Luthor was not usually jumpy, preferring to stay calm and collected, or at least appear so but the sudden appearance of Ghost in his hotel room was surprising enough to make him jump.

"Ghost?" He asked, surprised.

"Luthor?" Ghost asked in a mocking interpretation before becoming serious again, "Red Arrow called in some assistance in the matter of protecting the peace summit. I need you to get me in so that I can survey the area and make sure we watch all the entrances and block the exits." Lex nodded, returning to a calm state when he realised that the white-suited assassin was not here to kill him.

"Very well, let us away to the embassy."

"Don't get sarcastic with me Luthor."

Aqualad and Red Arrow stood outside Cheshire's cell in the Taipei police station.

"Aren't you going to ask me… _anything_?" Cheshire asked as she moved through a sequence of motions, her entire body moving and bending smoothly.

"I think you know what we're after." Red Arrow said, eyebrows furrowing in annoyance.

"I do actually, do you?"

"Who hired you?" Red Arrow snapped.

"The shadows," Cheshire responded.

"And who hired them?" Red Arrow growled.

"I don't ask," Cheshire responded before winking at him.

"What's the end game? The Summit? Or Luthor himself?" Red Arrow asked.

"Hey, where are the rest of your little sidekick friends? They're always fun to play with. Especially Art-chery girl, I like her."

"She- They- aren't in my league."

"No, they aren't, you're better than most of them and worse than Ghost, Ghost's dangerous, he's vicious. Where's he when you need him?"

"I don't." Red Arrow growled.

"Sure about that?" Cheshire asked before ducking down and grabbing the Bars of her cell.

"Oh no." Red Arrow said in a resigned tone before Kaldur tackled him as the wall of Cheshire's cell exploded.

The two young superheroes looked up as the wall exploded. A bald man in black sleeveless combat gear hung from a rappelling rope over the hole.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Cheshire asked frantically.

"I'll tell you later." The Intruder said, seemingly unbothered by the two heroes a few metres away, "Let's go." He then kicked off from the wall and disappeared downwards. Cheshire sprang to her feet and lunged out of the hole disappearing downwards.

"The roof!" Kaldur yelled, standing up and sprinting out of the door, Red Arrow following close behind him. The two ran all the way up to the roof kicking open the door and running towards the side of the wall which had been blasted open. Cheshire and her saviour were running along the rooftops, moving swiftly. Red Arrow fired a rope arrow and began to zip line along it moving fast enough to catch up with the others. Kaldur hooked one of his water bearers over the rope and jumped, following.

"Are you even trying to lose theses two?" The black clothed assassin said to Cheshire, not sounding bothered at all.

"Not really," Cheshire said with a slight laugh

"You're going to have to try at some point." The Assassin responded.

"Yeah, you're right." Cheshire turned and threw a shuriken at the rope cutting through it easily. The two young heroes dropped a few feet down towards the rooftops and rolled to break their falls. They looked up as the two assassins threw themselves into a large black helicopter which had already begun its ascent before they entered. Red Arrow grabbed another rope arrow from his quiver and fired it, catching onto the chopper, he began to haul himself up the rope. The black-clad-assassin leant out of the door of the chopper and sighed.

"These guys, they refuse to give up, don't they?" He asked, glancing at Cheshire, amusement very much clear.

"No, they don't, it's really quite funny," Cheshire responded.

"I like the ginger, what height do you reckon won't kill him?"

"Give it another couple of metres."

"Alright."

The two sat in a curious silence, both watching Roy haul himself up the rope before the black-clad assassin drew a knife from his belt and sliced clean through the rope. Roy dropped but was easily able to fire a foam arrow in order to break his fall. As the redhead watched the helicopter disappear into the distance, Kaldur ran over to him, having only just caught up.

"They were playing with us," Roy growled.

"They were, my friend, perhaps we should retreat and focus on defending the peace summit."

"Yeah, we need to meet up with Ghost and see what he's got."

The three teens stood around a table. After explaining the situation to the summit's security team (the insinuation that they were not sufficient defence had annoyed them at first) they had been able to set up in a reasonably sized apartment. Ghost placed down a projector on each corner of the table and flicked his wrist. Instantly a 3D image of the embassy appeared.

"If what you're telling me is correct, which I have no doubt about, then our job just got about a dozen times harder and you should be very glad I'm here. That assassin who helped out Cheshire is called Nodachi, he's a member of the Shogun clan, and one of the few members of the Shogun family. They are all of Japanese descent, although Nodachi's possibly adopted or just really diluted. The Shogun clan is led by Shogun himself."

The holographic model changed to show a bulky suit of armour, that vaguely resembled classic samurai armour.

"He was a normal guy in a suit of armour, until he died, or came near enough to doing so. Now he's a brain in a robot, strong enough to stop superman, fast enough to give Bats a run for his money, tough enough to ignore most attacks. Highly skilled in melee combat, carrying a virtual clusterfuck of equipment. His disadvantage is that his suit needs regular maintenance so he very rarely actually appears. Sadly, that doesn't make the clan any weaker. He has two children, Nodachi and Kunoichi."

The hologram changed, yet again to show the assassin from earlier as well as a girl, about 17 and much more blatantly Japanese. She wore a kimono that was a tad more revealing than probably necessary.

"Yeah, Kunoichi uses her appearance as a distraction, do not get distracted by it or you. Will. Die. She, like her father, carries a clusterfuck of equipment, including bladed fans, retractable spears and foot long claws, no one has any clue as to how she carries all of that whilst wearing about a metre squared of cloth."

"A metre squared's a bit generous," Roy said, smirking.

"_Stop it!_" Ghost said with a slight laugh. "Nodachi carries blades, quite a few of 'em. He got his name from his favourite sword, a five-foot-long Nodachi sword. He's the most physically active of the family."

"I reckon Kunoichi's probably _very _physically active," Roy said, smirking once more.

"_Fuck's sake_." Ghost said, exasperated but amused all the same. "Look, the point I'm trying to make is that if Nodachi shows up, let me handle him; if Kunoichi shows up, shoot the bitch and run; if Shogun shows up, don't even bother shooting him, just plain run."

The white-suited boy waved his hand and the hologram changed- much to Roy's disappointment- back into the model of the embassy.

"Really, the guys who set up this summit were having a bad brain day, because the hall it's in has a _giant fucking window_, as well as air vents big enough for a small ICBM, and about three doors. Roy, everyone knows you're here, may as well be in close proximity to Luthor and the others. Kaldur, Nodachi and Cheshire both know you're around, and you're a hero, so you can get away with being out in the open. I'm going to be around, keeping an eye on the comings and goings."

Roy and Kaldur both nodded.

"Well then," The redhead began, "Shall we go and achieve peace between two countries?"

"Fuck yeah!"

"You gotta admit Bats, disappearing without saying anything takes balls, especially since Ghost's supposed to only go on league sanctioned missions." Green arrow said, smirking at the very angry looking vigilante in front of him.

"The disappearing doesn't bother me, Kaldur will stop him from doing anything too destructive, like blowing up expensive rocket launch computers, it's the fact that neither of them has said anything." The Bat grumbled as he paced around the Hub of Mount Justice.

"Hold up," Black Canary said from where she was working on the computer, "Blowing up launch computers?"

"Long story."

"I guessed," There was a chime from the computer and Black Canary looked down at it, surprised, "It's a message from Ghost '_achieving world peace, fighting ninjas, kicking ass, back for dinner_', Ha, he did a smiley face emoji, like the proper image." The blonde heroine turned the screen in mid-air to show both heroes the yellow smiling face.

"Wait, can the league computer even do those?" Green Arrow asked.

"No, it can't," Batman grumbled.

"Can now." Black Canary said, smiling in amusement.

"Kal, check in."

"Kaldur, check.

"Roy, check in."

"Roy, check."

"Cool."

Red arrow almost laughed as the currently invisible killing machine ninja said 'cool'.

"Hey, Ghost?"

"Ya?"

"How do you know all that about the shogun clan, I'm assuming they don't have a Wikipedia page."

"They have a penchant for trying to be the dominant villain group in places, so far, they haven't achieved that anywhere near the west but they've tried before, I had to push back, which means I've had to do research on them."

"Oh, I always thought of you as just a mindless machine, Y'know, before you broke loose."

"Emotionless, yes, mindless, no. and I sort of showed emotions, when dealing with allies, I knew how to act since it helped me work with them."

"Hmm, cool."

"Why are we having a casual conversation when we are fairly sure that a group of assassins are going to attack us?" Aqualad asked.

"Because waiting is boring, and I can't actually do anything else since I'm hanging off the ceiling." Ghost said.

"Why are you hanging off the ceiling? There's like a bunch of places you could stand and not get noticed." Red Arrow said.

"Because," Ghost growled, "if I'm just standing there, I don't get as dramatic an entrance."

"You're obsessed with theatrics aren't you?"

"Oh god yeah, theatrics are everything."

"_Focus_, my friends, focus."

"Sure, sure." Ghost muttered.

"Gentlemen, please," Luthor said, interrupting the two arguing state leaders and catching the young heroes' attention, "This is mere rhetoric, despite your differences you both share an appreciation of many things such as the exquisite brilliance of the Rhelasian tea ceremony."

He gestured towards the front of the hall where a young woman in a kimono was pushing a trolley towards the table.

"She's five-nine," Roy muttered.

"Dark haired too," Aqualad said.

"Her arse is the same shape as Cheshire's too." Ghost said.

"And you call me a perv," Roy said.

"I have an eye for details, what can I say. Kal, move up and engage."

Aqualad stepped up to intercept Cheshire.

"That is far enough… Cheshire." Cheshire's gentle smile faded into a glare before she pushed a button on her cart and shoved it forwards. Roy fired an explosive arrow to counter it whilst Aqualad raised a water shield. The explosion ripped through the entire hall.

"Ah, fuck," Ghost grunted as he was struck by a wave of heat.

As the smoke from the explosion faded Kaldur ripped his jacket off and Roy moved up to stand next to him.

"It's over, Cheshire," Roy growled, levelling an arrow at her.

"You would think so," Cheshire said, smirking as a helicopter rose up behind her. Nodachi stood on the leg of the chopper, hanging off the top of it. He stepped casually across the gap between the helicopter and the building. As Ghost had said his five-foot-long sword was on his back and he drew it. Men in black, armour padded suits stepped off behind him and drew pistols and knives.

"I've got Nodachi, you guys deal with the other clan members and Cheshire." Ghost said. He dropped from the ceiling and landed, becoming visible. Nodachi smirked when he saw the white assassin.

"Ah, Ghost, we thought you would be here, care to battle?" Ghost nodded and the two charged at each other.

In close quarters it would have been fair to assume that Ghost's meter long swords would have had the advantage over Nodachi's five-foot-long one. This assumption would have been false. Nodachi twisted and turned his blade to block both of Ghost's swords simultaneously, the two combatants twirling and gliding across the room, as if they were dancing.

Kaldur and Cheshire battled as well, Sai (Kaldur didn't even want to know where they had come from) and water sabres meeting as Cheshire danced around the Atlantean. Kaldur had learned after his last fight with Cheshire that charging in and trying to use his full physical strength simply exposed him to her superior agility, so he stayed on the defensive, blocking incoming attacks and waiting for an opening.

Red Arrow crouched on a piece of rubble, trying to help the Rhelasian security teams combat the ninjas that had followed Nodachi off the helicopter. It didn't take long as the ninjas didn't seem particularly focused and net arrows, foam arrows and knockout gas arrows dealt with them easily.

He then turned to Kaldur and Cheshire, launching an arrow at Cheshire. The projectile just missed her (the intended effect) and stuck into the ground at her feet. She looked down at it, looked up at Roy, winked and then dropped a smoke bomb, disappearing by the time the smoke faded. All eyes turned to Ghost and Nodachi, neither of whom seemed to be winning per se, with both blocking the others hits easily.

Ghost dropped under one of Nodachi's swings and disappeared, reappearing a few moments later behind his opponent, and silently lunging. Somehow Nodachi saw this coming and spun, raising his foot and striking Ghost in the ribs. Ghost rolled across the floor, having been sent flying by the force of the attack, before rising smoothly to his feet. Nodachi was charging levelling all five feet of his sword at Ghost. Ghost became intangible just before the blade pierced his chest, side stepping out of it, becoming solid and hitting Nodachi in the face.

The helicopter sank down, reappearing at the window, turned so that it faced the crowd full on.

"Rockets!" Ghost yelled, rolling under a swing from Nodachi, his counter strike being deflected easily of the sword.

Roy turned and almost shit himself when he saw the rocket launchers on the side of the Chopper.

"Fuck! Run!" He yelled but Luthor's assistant stepped forwards and raised her right arm. The limb split into four, from shoulder to fingertips and fired a projectile. The rocket struck the Chopper and exploded, a wave of heat rolling over the crowd. Nodachi turned and glared as the now burning wreck of the Chopper fell to the ground.

"Fucker." He said, turning to Ghost before fleeing. Ghost let him go, hand moving to clutch his ribs where Nodachi had kicked him.

"You okay?" Roy asked walking over to the white-suited boy.

"The fucker had steel toe caps, so my ribs sting like a bitch, but yeah, I'm fine, mostly." Ghost replied, his voice slightly higher than normal.

"That's good, we should head off, I'm freelance right now, you two aren't and it's past your bedtime."

"Fuck you, Harper." Ghost muttered. Kaldur joined them.

"The Rhelasian ministers have agreed to sign the treaty and are currently fanboying over Luthor's assistant's arm. Luthor has said that we may leave."

Ghost nodded and then turned to Roy.

"Come back to the cave with us and debrief?" He asked, his tired voice hopeful.

Roy smiled slightly and nodded. "If it lets you babies go to bed earlier, sure." Ghost sighed as Kaldur smiled and nodded.

**MOUNT JUSTICE **

**SEPTEMBER 8, 02:40, EDT**

"And exactly who sanctioned this mission?" Batman asked glaring down at the two sheepish team members.

"We did," Muttered Ghost, "but to be fair, I sent you a message."

"You sent me once sentence, that didn't even have important information in!" Black Canary said, the lump of worry that had been in her chest fading.

"I told you we'd be back for dinner." Ghost said.

"In what way is showing up at two in the morning with a few broken ribs 'back for dinner'?" Canary said, frustration seeping into her voice.

"I have a very weird eating schedule, alright? Besides I did the right thing and used my skills to help achieve peace, isn't that what you lot have been trying to get me to do?"

"Do not try and guilt trip me, young man?"

"oh, so this is one of _those_ womanly things, isn't it, Y'know 'I told you to do A but I wanted you to do B.' Fuck's sake, try as I might, women will _never_ make sense." Ghost muttered. Canary glared at him and then at Batman who gave her a very slight shrug.

"He has a point, he was doing what we've been telling him to do, but next time," He grabbed Ghost by the top of the head and turned him to face him, "Leave a slightly longer message, alright?"

"Aye aye, Captain." Ghost said, standing up and walking out.

"Unbelievable," Canary muttered as Kaldur followed Ghost, "Was Robin ever this bad?"

"Nope," Batman said, "But I was."

**A/N** This chapter was surprisingly difficult, at least at the beginning, until I got into my stride, it also wasn't helped by my laptop charger breaking half way through, so I spent two weeks waiting for that to get fixed.


	9. Chapter 9

**MOUNT JUSTICE**

**SEPTEMBER 14, 14:28 EDT**

"This past fourth of July, four Ice villains staged simultaneous attacks, Mister Freeze, Killer Frost, Captain Cold and Icicle Junior where all easily apprehended, perhaps too easily. Cold and Frost were immediately sent to Belle Reve penitentiary, a prison specialised to hold supervillains. The 17-year-old Icicle Junior was sent to a juvenile facility whilst Mister Freeze was sent to his usual cell in Arkham Asylum, but Freeze petitioned to be tried as legally sane and Junior sued to be tried as an adult. As a result, both are awaiting transfer to Belle Reve, which seems to have been the goal all along. I'm sending Miss Martian and Superboy to infiltrate Belle Reve and find out why." Batman said, turning to the group, opening the possibility of questions.

"Who inside the prison will know about their presence?" Aqualad asked.

"No-one, we cannot be sure that the staff has not been compromised."

"What if they are discovered?" J'onn asked, "Belle Reve employs power inhibiting collars does it not?"

"The Collars are specialised," Ghost said, "Depending on who we replace, they might not work fully." He turned towards the screen and it flickered. Two images, a pair of blondes, appeared.

"The Terror twins," Began the boy, "both have super-strength, but they're a close team and incapacitating them probably won't be difficult." He stopped for a moment to consider.

"About the whole 'being completely alone' thing I can probably fix that." The screen flickered again and a set of blueprints appeared.

"Security is fairly basic, laser tripwires, cameras, that stuff, easy for me to bypass, I can sneak in and be emergency backup if you need it." There were a few moments of silence as the older heroes considered the proposed plan.

"It _will _provide extra backup." Red Tornado said, his robotic voice ringing.

"And allow Ghost to investigate the staff," Batman added, his voice contemplative, "Alright, Ghost, you will infiltrate the prison. Investigate the staff and stay inside as backup. Can you establish untraceable communications with the league?"

"Easy." Ghost scoffed, "So, backup, investigation and communications relay? I can do that."

"Alright, the next time the Terror twins make a play, we will focus on arresting them. Meeting over."

**BELLE REVE PARISH**

**SEPTEMBER 16, 21:55 CDT**

M'gann couldn't help the disgusted look that passed across her face when Icicle Junior blew a kiss at her from across the prison bus. She exchanged a look with Connor, who she noted had a very slight smile of victory on his face. Part of her was paying attention to Ghost, enough to know that he was now hanging off the bottom of the bus and that, unbeknownst to himself, was humming a surprisingly merry tune.

Freeze sat in an isolated cooling block at the back of the bus. Engaged in a grim stare off with the officer at the front of the bus.

_The team will be out of range in 5 seconds, good luck you three.  
_

_Thanks, Aqualad._

"Dude, Dude!" M'gann's attention was diverted by Icicle Junior speaking from Connor's other side. "Your sister is sweet! How about you put in a good word for me?"

"Sit down!" The guard said, forcing Junior back into his seat with the butt of his rifle. "We're here." M'gann could barely see past the tinted windows but she saw shadows moving back and forth, likely searching the bus before the door opened and the four new prisoners were moved out of the bus. The courtyard was closed, bright lights illuminating every nook and cranny. Amanda Waller was a tall, broad-shouldered figure, although M'gann couldn't quite decide whether the bulk was primarily muscle or fat.

"Listen up!" Waller called, her voice- even without augmentation- booming out over the room. "I am the law of last resort, my name is Amanda Waller and I am not your mother, your maiden aunt or your friend; I am your warden, and you are my prisoners. The proprietary collars you where are custom designed to inhibit your specific meta ability: no strength, no ice. In addition, the collars can, and will, be used to discipline inmates. A con who breaks the rules will receive one warning." Waller pressed a button on the remote in her hand and M'gann felt a surge of pain that rattled her entire body, her muscles tensing up from the shock. "If order has not been restored," Waller continued, "The next shock will render the inmate unconscious. At the slightest hint of trouble, this facility goes into lockdown. Belle Reve's walls are thick enough to hold Superman, we know, we tested. No-one's ever escaped Belle Reve, no-one ever will."

The man behind Waller coughed, the sort of cough that drew attention.

"Oh and this is Professor Hugo Strange, he is your maiden aunt."

"Actually I'm the prison psychiatrist and I promise you a sincere attempt at rehabilitation."

The guard behind M'gann roughly grabbed M'gann by the shoulder and shoved her towards the women's wing.

_Is everyone here? _She asked over the mental link.

_Yep. _Superboy responded, his mental voice slightly clipped.

_I'm here, in one of the internal isolation chambers, external communications have been established._

_So what's the plan? _M'gann asked.

_Already altered your records. _Ghost said. _M'gann, your rooming with Killer frost, see if you can get in her good graces. Connor, you're rooming with Icicle Junior, they're both involved so we should be able to get a bead on their plans._

_There's something else. _Connor said. _Something you're not telling us._

_It's more of a concept. _Ghost responded. _I know a few people in the prison, I might be able to talk to them, see if they know anything, maybe they can help._

_We should ask Batman. _M'gann said.

_Fuck Batman, fuck Superman, fuck the league. _Connor growled. _Go ahead see if you can get us some help._

_Will do, Ghost out._

**BELLE REVE PARISH**

**SEPTEMBER 17, 03:21 CDT**

"Oi, pinky!"

The man's eyes shot open as he heard the voice from just outside his cell.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" He hissed, standing up and leaning against the bars, looking at his feet.

"Investigation." Ghost muttered, leaning against the bars, scanning the walkway.

"Investigating what, hero?" Deadshot responded.

"The Ice villains, Freeze and Icicle Junior transferred here, joined Icicle Senior, Killer Frost and Cold."

"Yeah, I noticed."

"You got anything you can tell me?"

"Nope, but if five ice villains are all in the same place, you can be damn sure that trouble's coming."

"And what happens when it does come?"

"Huh?"

"When shit hits the fan, are you on the side of the angels or the demons?"

"The side of the angels. Being on the side of the devils will just get me into more trouble."

"Alright, listen, man, it's been good talking to you when this scheme starts, I'll swing 'round and get you a gun so you can give us a hand, alright?"

"Sure."

Ghost nodded, although he knew Floyd couldn't see him and walked away, returning to his loft and curling up into a ball, letting his memories wash over him.

**BOSTON CITY**

**AUGUST 4, 2008**

**11:34 CDT**

Ghost's sword was a streak, almost invisible as it slashed back and forth, the tip occasionally advancing forwards and striking his enemy.

"Can't get a clear shot on the target, moving to a new vantage point." Deadshot's voice came over the comms.

"Logic, this bastard is way too good to be a valid target, please tell me your research got us something."

"It did, but that's not exactly a good thing. Target is Slade Wilson aka Deathstroke."

"Isn't Deathstroke like superhero levels of toughness?"

"No, that's not at all why he's _still _fighting after being shot three times."

"Don't get fucking sarcastic with me, I'm a bit too busy to be precise."

Ghost ducked under a swing from Deathstroke and lunged around him, kicking him in the back. The UV vision filter in his mask allowed him to see the ultraviolet laser that Deadshot was using to align his shot. It was currently flickering over Ghost's shoulder, the new angle clearly not allowing Deadshot any better a shot. 

"Drop shot in 3!" Ghost said. He counted three seconds and then ducked. At almost the exact moment Ghost ducked there was a crack and a bullet collided with Deathstroke's helmet.

An ordinary bullet would have done barely anything against the armoured mask, but Deadshot was not firing just any bullet. Deathstroke was sent flying, the impact throwing him backwards. Ghost sprang over to the fallen mercenary and levelled his sword at the man's face.

"Slade Wilson, you have been sentenced to death. I will deliver this sentence myself, any final words?"

"Yeah, as it happens I do," Slade said, ripping his mask off his face. "Pale Shadow."

Ghost stiffened, his sword retracting instantly. Slade pushed himself to his feet and looked at Ghost, moving to keep Ghost between himself and Deadshot.

"Return to Cadmus, these are your orders." He said before turning and running away. Ghost turned as well and walked off down an alleyway, sheathing his sword. 

Deadshot lowered his rifle, glaring at the alley into which Ghost had disappeared. He had positioned himself in the doorway of a pub and now walked into the middle of the crossroads. Logic ran over to meet him, tugging his helmet off, frowning more than glaring at the alleyway.

"What the hell was that?" Floyd seethed, ripping his balaclava off.

"I have genuinely no clue," Logic muttered, "but I have a really bad feeling about this." There was the sudden screeching of sirens and the red and blue flashes of police cars.

"Oh, fucking fuck fuck nuggets." Floyd muttered, calmly placing his rifle on the floor and raising his hands.

"And here I was thinking I might get past college before I got arrested."

"Floyd Lawton! Marvin Kuttler! Put your hands on your heads, you are under arrest!" Yelled one of the police officers, aiming a pistol at Floyd's head.

"Yeah, we realised that, Piss Pot."

**BELLE REVE PARISH**

**SEPTEMBER 17, 14:27**

"Stick with me Cellmate, I'll show you the ropes." Said Junior, patting Connor on the shoulder as the two walked out into the light of the east wing courtyard. The lights were natural enough that a human would be unable to tell the difference but to Connor's semi-Kryptonian eyes they were almost painfully artificial.

"Aw, who you kiddin', you ain't never been in Belle Reve before, you're liable to get me hanged with them ropes."

"I may never have been incarcerated in here before _Tommy_," Junior said, patting Connor on the shoulder, "But I know whereof I speak." Junior gestured towards the bleachers on one side of the courtyard. Mammoth- Connor winced as he remembered the beating that monster had dealt him on their first official mission- stood in front of the stands. Mister Freeze, Captain Cold and a grey-haired man, probably Icicle Senior, sat behind Mammoth, talking quietly.

"For starters," Junior cut in, "We pay homage to the top of the food chain, the Big Dog, the prisoners El Capo, my father."

"That's your Pa?" Connor asked, genuine surprise in his tone.

"Yep, Icicle Senior. Reeks when your dad is _the man_, you know."

"Trust me, I know."

"Hey, hey, how many ice villains does it take to screw in a light bulb?" Riddler said from where he stood in front of the group of villains.

"Know one cares Nygma."

"O-of course not, Bossman, I just thought that if you were having a powwow, you might need some of my know-how." Mammoth advanced on him, growling so Nygma turned and fled with his metaphorical tail between his metaphorical legs.

Junior took a deep breath. "Well, here goes nothing." He said, before moving in the direction of his father.

Unfortunately for junior, he made it barely three steps before Ojo tackled him, jumping onto his back.

"Hello junior," He growled, "I warned you what would happen the next time we crossed paths,"

"Ojo, buddy, pal, me amigo-" Junior started in a desperate effort to evade a beating. Connor reached out and grabbed Ojo, pulling him off the younger villain, Brick growled and attacked Connor, swinging his fists quickly towards the young clone. Brick swung Connor into a headlock to give Ojo an opportunity to hit Connor. Ojo made to punch Connor only to stop, staring.

"Wait, I know him!" He yelled. Connor flipped Brick into Ojo sending both sprawling across the floor. Brick rose up as two other prisoners grabbed Connor's arms. He made to punch Connor only for a voice to stop him.

"Enough." Called Senior, all eyes turning to him. "Kid's got guts, something I wouldn't mind seeing in my own son. Get over here!" Connor and Junior both moved towards the group only for Brick to stop Connor.

"Not you, Terror, just Junior." Junior walked up to stand timidly in front of his Father. Connor turned, looking nonchalantly off to the side, turning his ear to the group. He concentrated and was able to just about here the conversation.

"Alright, Ice, we're all here." Freeze said, turning to Icicle Senior.

"Good, now we need to launch the plan to break out every single con in Belle Reve." Senior said with a vindictive smirk.

"The new jumpsuits came in this morning, we can dish them out this afternoon, which means that if we want to break out, the best time would be after sundown." Captain Cold said, leaning forwards on his seat. Connor glared absently at the floor, _oh, this is not good_ he thought.

**BOSTON CITY**

**AUGUST 5, 2008**

**05:46 CDT**

It was a sad fact of his life that Floyd Lawton spent a lot of time in handcuffs, and not necessarily because he enjoyed it. He was sat on an uncomfortable metal chair, in front of a plain metal table, with his wrists cuffed onto a bar mounted on the table. He was an easily bored person and as such was rhythmically tapping the cuffs against the bar, filling the small, grey-walled room with a light tune. He had been in this room, cuffed since half twelve, four fucking hours and was starting to suspect that the police had completely forgotten about him.

The opening of the door surprised him slightly, and so too did the woman who walked in. She was bulky as hell, and an idle part of his mind wondered whether she had to have her clothes custom made, but the more immediate part of his mind noticed that neither of the two black-clothed guards outside the door, each armed with an assault rifle, followed her into the room. The mercenary in his mind told him that this fact meant that this woman was not one to be fucked with. The woman's significant bulk made the chair creak as she sat down and dropped a file onto the table.

"Floyd Lawton, you are a very interesting man." She said, Floyd bit back a scathing remark- most likely involving the woman's weight- and simply smiled pleasantly.

"Thank you very much, and you are?" He asked in a faux-merry tone.

"My name is Amanda Waller; I am the Warden of Belle Reve supervillain penitentiary."

"Holy shit! I qualify as a supervillain?" Floyd said, truthfully not very surprised but faking it for the benefit of Waller.

"Currently on your list of _confirmed _kills, you have a precise shot from over 800 metres away, through a ship's porthole."

"It was a lucky shot." Floyd responded nonchalantly.

"You repeated that shot a half dozen times at least, each one was an almost immediate kill."

"I had my four-leaf clover with me." Floyd said, cracking a small smile.

"Funny." Waller responded in a flawlessly deadpan tone. _Okay, _Floyd thought, _sense of humour levels: non-existent. _"Mr Lawton, you are about to be charged with enough life sentences that you will still be in prison during the god-damned rapture. If you accept the offer I am about to give you and that will be cut down to a significantly smaller number and you will be given unique opportunities to reduce your sentence, participating in missions where necessary." Floyd was silent with consideration. "Mr Lawton, failing to accept my offer will result in you going to prison until you die, or they may even decide to give you the death sentence. Accept my offer and you get the chance to reduce your sentence and you may even be free sometime in the next few decades." Floyd laughed the chains of his handcuff clinking.

"Alright then, you got me, I accept." He said, "You, Amanda Waller, are a very smart person, I like you."

**BELLE REVE PARISH**

**SEPTEMBER 17, 18:31**

Ghost let out a sigh as be paced the small, padded room, his fingers idly fiddling with his sword handle. Assuming that Cold mentioning performing the breakout tonight was not a ruse, which he doubted as no one in Belle Reve should have had enhanced sense, then he had at most five and a half hours before he would need to help M'gann and Connor fight both Cons and Guards to get out of the prison. Hopefully, Floyd was on his side, able to lend some firepower to the mix. That reminded him, he assumed that the Deadshot equipment was still in the prison because, after all, the Task Force X data he had hacked from Argus revealed that Deadshot was a current member and he assumed that the gear would be kept on site.

Turning, Ghost opened the soundproofed door and stepped out into the corridor, flickering into invisibility as he did so. He strode to the staircase and descended, walking slowly enough that his footsteps were virtually inaudible. The most likely location for the weapon storage was two floors down and roughly in the dead-centre of the building, just above Waller's office. The path down the stairwell was clear, and even when he got to the mess of corridors he barely saw any guards, once he reached the locked storage room he glanced around to ensure that no guards were in the vicinity and then switched his invisibility out for intangibility, walking calmly through the door. The room was full of rows of lockers, each marked with a name. Ghost walked down the rows, inspecting the name on each one. He recognised some of the names: Harley Quinn, Bronze Tiger and Multiplex but there were a couple of names that he didn't recognise. After a few minutes of searching, he found the locker marked Deadshot. The lock was electromagnetic, designed to resist even the hardest blows and the door itself was made of a titanium alloy. Unfortunately, electronic locking meant that he could control it, and the door swung open without a seconds' delay. Ghost drew out the two 9mm wrist-mounted machine guns, a bag full of ammo and a sniper rifle. The sniper rifle was unique in that it was able to switch rapidly between two variants of ammunition.

"Compensating for anything, mate?" He sniggered, turning and heading back to the isolation room upstairs, it was an uneventful journey until the alarm started to go off. "Well, shit." He muttered before turning and running towards the main cell block.

'_M'gann, Connor, what's the situation?' _Ghost asked, opening his mind to the mind link.

'_Killer Frost and Devastation are preparing to break into the men's block.' _M'gann responded

'_The ice villains are going to break through to the girls and then the lot of them are going to break out of the prison together.' _That wasn't good. If the entire criminal population of Belle Reve got together, Ghost wasn't sure whether he, M'gann and Connor could actually stop them. He would try of course, but he needed Floyd, fast. When he got to his friend's cell he was happy to see the sniper still sat on his cot. Ghost held the rifle and gauntlets out and Floyd took them. He slid the gauntlets onto his wrists and swung the strap of the rifle and the ammo bag over his shoulder.

"Let's go." Floyd said. Both marched in step out the cell door, Ghost drawing his swords and Floyd clenching his fists loosely around the triggers of his gauntlets.

"The ice villains are breaking through between the men and women's blocks in the laundry room, and busting out of the building through the forum of the men's block. Superboy and Miss Martian are going to try and stop the women getting in, but we need to cover the main escape attempt." Ghost informed Floyd, who nodded. The two men raced onto the balcony around the main foyer. Brick stood guard in front of one of the cells, looking out around the foyer, whilst the three ice villains fired ice at the wall and Mammoth punched wildly at the spot on the wall.

"Take out Brick first?" Floyd asked and Ghost nodded, he stepped back and then lunged at the railing, swinging over, dropping to the balcony below them and then back flipping down, landing in a clean roll, before rising to his feet and turning to face the villains. There was a crack from above him and Brick stumbled away, a bullet crumpling against his forehead. He turned to see Floyd standing with his rifle aimed at Brick and Ghost standing below Floyd, swords fully extended.

"Lawton!" Brick roared, furious. He charged at Ghost, who sprinted towards him, Brick raised both his fists over his head and swung them downwards at Ghost. The assassin easily rolled around the swing, slashing Brick's forearm open, the huge villain let out a roar of pain and spun, arm outstretched in an effort to hit Ghost. Ghost dove between Brick's legs spun and buried his sword in Bricks lower abdomen. He drew the sword out, spun around and slashed straight through Brick's Achilles tendon. Brick cried out again and dropped to one knee, he spun and reached for Ghost, moving faster than he had before and wrapping his fingers around Ghost's throat, lifting him up into the air.

"Who the fuck are you?" He spat, "Some God-damn Hero?" Ghost choked out something unintelligible, vaguely along the lines of 'oogie, boogie wooty dooty' Brick frowned.

"What the fuck did you say?" He loosened his grip around Ghost's throat. Ghost became intangible and fell to the ground, landing in a crouch.

"Motherfucker, I said oogie, boogie wooty dooty." He hissed, smirking before there was another crack and brick fell to the ground, another of Floyd's bullets ripping through his other Achilles tendon.

Ghost ran past Brick to engage Mammoth and Floyd followed Ghost's path down to the ground. Mammoth was not nearly as resistant to Ghost's blades as Brick had been, and was still slightly uncomfortable in his new form, so Ghost's rapid movement easily deceived him, allowing the white-suited assassin to easily turn him into a bloody mess.

Floyd approached the cell that Brick had been guarding and was not exactly surprised to see Amanda Waller, Hugo strange and a number of prison guards locked in the cell. Floyd levelled his rifle at the lock and opened fired the bullet easily tearing through the lock and burying itself in the ground. As Floyd opened the cell door he levelled a glare at Waller.

"Waller, I'm leaving today, because I reckon this means we're fucking even." He said before turning towards the battle with the ice villains. Ghost was doing significantly better off on his own than Floyd would have been. The three villains only had short-range wrist mounted ice guns, clearly not designed for combat, and Mammoth was nowhere near fast enough to fight Ghost successfully.

"I got this!" Ghost called, noticing Floyd standing off to the side. "Go help Superboy!" Floyd nodded and turned. Ghost had said that the villains were breaking through in the laundry room and, thankfully, he knew where that was. He hoped that the breakthrough hadn't been managed yet, because stopping them from breaking through or, more likely, setting a trap for them, would be difficult, but having to drive them back would be absolutely fucking impossible. He stopped off at the armoury, shoving a pile of anti-meta grenades into his ammo bag, before running for the laundry room again.

When he reached the laundry room, he saw Icicle Junior standing back from the wall whilst Superboy, disguised as Tommy Terror wailed on it. Floyd dropped one magazine of ammo and loaded a magazine of rubber bullets, shoved a slider across to chamber one, took aim and fired, the bullet struck Junior in the back of his head and he dropped. Superboy turned around as Floyd entered the room, holding his hands up in a pacifying gesture.

"You're the extra help Ghost was talking about." Superboy said, in a tone that made it clear he hadn't just asked a question.

"Yep, now, we've got all the female cons in Belle Reve trying to bust their way through that wall, so we're going to need to get ready for one hell of a fight." Superboy nodded in agreement and Floyd beckoned him backwards. They crouched down on either side of the doorway into the laundry room.

"Do you have full Kryptonian invulnerability?" Floyd asked curiously. Connor nodded at him.

"Good, then you can do a suicide run." He threw a grenade across the doorway. "Percussion grenade dishes out enough force to send you flying into the wall, hold onto that one, jump over the front runners and bust it in the back. In the meantime, have theses." He rolled a dozen or so more grenades across the doorway. "Polyurethane foam grenades and flashbangs. Should be good enough to take out most of them, and I reckon that you can bust the rest with your bare hands. Can you hear anything?" Superboy tilted his head to the said, staying silent for a few seconds before nodding.

"They're almost through." He said calmly.

"Good, chuck a flashbang the moment they get through." Connor nodded once more before turning back to the door. A few seconds later, Devastation busted through the wall and advanced into the wall, Killer frost following. Connor and Floyd each threw a grenade, Connor's detonating in a flash of light and sound, sending both villains stumbling before Floyd's percussion grenade went off, sending both villains flying.

There was instant chaos.

What followed was, by all accounts, nuts. The female Cons had been confident that they would break into the men's wing and that from then on it would be plain sailing. As such when they came through the opening and were immediately assaulted by bangs, flashes and impacts that sent them flying, they panicked. After a few seconds, having given the girls time to spill out of the opening and fill the room, Connor dashed into the room and began swinging. His fist made contact with someone's face, but Connor, running under the assumption that no one he was allied to would be around, didn't really care. The melee lasted, well, Connor wasn't really sure because adrenaline started pumping and messing with his mind from the moments he started fighting. After however long it was, Connor was the last one standing, surrounded by a pile of, hopefully, unconscious bodies. Connor turned with a slightly manic grin on his face to look at Floyd, who stood with his rifle held low, staring at Connor.

"Jesus fuck, you're god damn insane!" He said, snorting with amusement. Connor was scanning the bodies now, a worried frown on his face, where was M'gann, had he hit her? She wasn't around anywhere, what had happened?

"Supes!" Floyd called, stepping on Killer Frost's head as he approached the young clone. Superboy looked up at him, his features twisted into an unfamiliar expression of worry, "What's wrong?" Floyd asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Where's M'gann?" Connor asked, Floyd looked surprised for a moment, mostly by the fact that she seemed to be the first thing Superboy had thought about after the fight, before nodding and walking past Connor, stepping into the free space of the opening.

"Oh, Jesus!" He said, dropping his rifle, looking at an unforeseen spot off to the side. Connor looked up and ran to Floyd's side, not caring about the villains he stepped on. He stopped.

M'gann was suspended in a pillar of ice, a few feet across, her eyes were open and an expression of pure terror was fixed on her face.

"M'gann…" Connor whispered, placing his palm against the ice, his voice cracking and full of misery.

Ghost rushed into the room and stopped himself. He crossed the room and placed a hand on Connor's shoulder.

"I'm going to break the lockdown, just as soon as we fix this."

"Fix it?" Connor snapped incredulously, "She's frozen in fucking ice, no one could survive that."

"No human, but she's Martian, I'm pretty sure it's colder on Mars. Break it." Connor looked back at Ghost and then glanced at Floyd.

"Listen to him, Kid, he almost certainly knows what he's talking about." Floyd said, looking Connor in the eyes. Connor nodded, turned and struck the ice with all the force he could muster.

There was a terrifyingly loud crack and the ice broke, shattering around M'gann. The Martian fell to the ground, ice raining down around her. Superboy walked forward tentatively.

"M'gann… are you?" He spoke, quietly. The Martian let out a groan and attempted to stand, only to slump to the ground. Connor dashed forwards and hauled her to her knees.

"I'm…I'm alright, it's pretty cold where I-" She was cut off by Connor pressing his lips to hers, and her disguise disappeared, her usual red hair sprouting, skin and eyes turning green. Ghost and Floyd let out synchronised snorts of amusement before turning to each other.

"What're you going to do now?" Floyd asked.

"Well, in, what, ten minutes I'm going to bust the lockdown, call Aqualad and we're going to bail out, but for now, I'm going to go and threaten Waller until she agrees to do her damnedest to get you a pardon." He said, patting Floyd on the shoulder.

"Really?" Floyd started.

"Yes, bud, you helped us stop a prison break, let's go." The two turned and strode off in the direction of Waller.

A/N Ok, so to be honest, I was planning to just move straight on to 'Homefront' but I wanted to do some extra bonding for M'gann, Connor and Ghost, so I might do an extra chapter, because, holy shit, this chapter ended up being 5000 words.

Next chapter most likely will be a little bit of bonding as a continuation of this chapter.


End file.
